Won't Back Down
by Lamminator
Summary: "So what'd you do before the world went to hell?" Glenn asked. She froze, glancing at everyone around the fire before replying. "I was a chef...for the United States Army."
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** _Just a bit of housekeeping before I let you read the first chapter:  
>1) I [finally] got a new computer, installed Microsoft Word, and started writing...but instead of updating ficts I already started, I started a new one. :-P This one (because after the episode "Cherokee Rose", I have fallen in love with Daryl).<br>2) Sorry for the title of the fict, but I seem to find inspiration for titles in songs/song titles. (Most of my ficts are song titles.)  
>3) Updates will be sporadic and might be few and far between, so I appologise now for long delays.<br>4) I, myself, swear like a sailor on shore leave, so my characters will as well.  
>5) I have been watching the show (obviously) and I have read (and own) all of the graphic novels that are available...but I'm still not<em> entirely_ sure__ where the second season is going, so I'm going to mix show and novels, but I'll stick closer to the show since not everyone reads the novels...but you should because they are amazing! That being said, this fict starts after season 1._

_I think that's all...for now. (LOL)_

_Enjoy the first chapter!_

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><p>She was on her way to Fort McPherson from Fort Gillem in the...ahem...borrowed camouflaged Hummer. Driving north on I-75, the damn thing decided to blow a gasket. And she was only a couple of miles from the exit for McPherson. Slowing the vehicle down, she angled it towards the side of the road, making it look like it was abandoned. Just in case. Once stopped, she glared through the windshield at the smoke steadily rising from under the hood. Smacking the steering wheel, she sighed, then got out of the Hummer, grabbing the shovel resting in the passenger's side as she did so.<p>

The woman circled the vehicle twice, slowly, searching the surrounding area to be on the look out for the walking dead. Seeing that she was not in immediate danger, she walked near the front of the vehicle and leaned the shovel against the tire. Taking another look over her shoulders, she put her hands on the underside of the hood (at the top, just under the windshield) and lifted, raising the metal and getting a face full of steam. Batting the steam out of her face with one hand and coughing lightly, she took one look at the engine and scoffed.

_Why __bother?_ She thought. _I__'__m__ totally __outta__ my __depth __here. __I __definitely __picked __the __wrong __field __of __study._

She propped the hood up with the metal arm, and leaned both hands onto the edge, glaring at the machine as if that would fix her problem. She slammed a hand down onto the metal before taking a few steps back, shucking off her button-down, plaid, flannel shirt and chucking it to the pavement, leaving her in a plain OD green T-shirt.

"Alright, you son of a bitch, if you don't stop smoking in five minutes, I'm leaving you here." She growled at the Hummer as if it were another person.

Putting her hands on her hips, she tilted her head to the sky and grunted. "Goddamn. I'm talking to a Hummer." She muttered. "I need more water. Soon."

She lowered her head as a hissing noise sounded from said Hummer. More steam rose from the engine, creating a larger cloud.

"Oh, you..." She trailed off as she marched up to the vehicle, scowling, and kicked the tire and side paneling with the sole of her foot. "Stupid-" Kick. "Son of a-" Kick. "Motherfucking-" Kick. "Piece of shit I hate driving!" One final swift kick to the door was enough to leave a small dent...and shut the door only slightly.

"Ahhh!" She yelled in frustration, scrubbing her hands over her face before pacing away from the Hummer, then turning back to glare at it.

She was about to launch herself at the vehicle to start another one-sided attack when she heard the distant sound of a motor. Pausing in mid-step, she listened closely, shutting her eyes to determine which way the sound was coming from. It was coming from the north...and it was getting closer.

Snapping her eyes open, she gasped softly and turned to look up the road. At the bend, a little more than three miles away, she could just make out the specks of three kinds of vehicles coming down the road. Turning, she picked up her flannel and threw it hastily over her shoulders as she ran back to the cab of the Hummer. Crawling in, she reached for the small bag on the passenger's seat and quickly pulled out the collapsible binoculars. Jumping out of the vehicle again, she moved closer to the center of the road to make sure her view was unobstructed by the smoke and other vehicles before raising the binocs to her eyes. She focused quickly on the lead vehicle as it traveled down the small hill: a classic, black motorcycle, followed by a rather old RV with a beat-up station wagon bringing up the rear.

"Shit." She muttered lowering the binocs. She sprinted back to the Hummer and practically dove into the front seat to grab the SIG-Sauer P220 semi-automatic pistol off the passenger's seat. She glanced up, still sprawled across the seats, and saw that the small convoy was getting steadily closer.

Tossing about some more mumbled swearing and cursing, she quickly climbed back out of the Hummer and ran to the back of the vehicle. She folded up the binoculars quickly and shoved them in the lower pocket of her dark khaki cargo pants, then took a look around the side of the Hummer. Realizing that she only had seconds to spare, she leaned back and sprinted towards the wooded area to the right, hoping that the people wouldn't see her run.

Once in the relative "safety" of the trees, she adjusted her flannel shirt as she watched the road like a hawk. Cursing again, she figured she was in trouble when the Hummer still continued to billow out steam as if it were the engine of a train.

_That __fuckin__' __thing__'__s __full __of __more __fuckin__' __water __than __I__ am_. She thought, glaring once more at the Hummer. She then remembered that she left the shovel in plan view, still leaned up against the tire, and let loose another round of swears.

She watched up the road as the motorcycle pulled further ahead of the others and slowed down near the Hummer, eventually coming to a stop. The man with (what could have been) dirty blonde hair, sleeveless plaid shirt, and work pants astride the cycle looked over the disabled vehicle. He gave some sort of signal to the RV behind him, which slowed to a stop several hundred yards away, making the station wagon stop as well. No one got out of either vehicle, but the motorcycle guy kicked down the kickstand and swung his leg over the bike. Getting off and unslinging a hunting crossbow from his shoulder, he pointing it at the Hummer as he approached it slowly, heading to the open driver's side door.

Frowning, the woman instantly made a decision. She didn't want to have her meager supplies ransacked by some more traveling survivors, so she steeled herself with a deep breath, letting it out in a huff, and crouched low. Bringing the SIG in front of her body, she gripped it with both hands and slowly flicked the safety off.

Moving as fast as she could in her couched position, she made her way on as straight an angle as possible so as not to alert the RV and station wagon to her presence. When she reached the back of the Hummer, she took a quick, stealthy look about the back bumper to see where the crossbow-wielding man was. He was sticking his head and bow into the Hummer, so she quickly moved to the back door and paused, raising the SIG and glancing at the RV at the same time, half-expecting to hear someone call out to warn the man in her Hummer.

No warning came.

"Back away from the vehicle and I won't have to shoot you." She demanded sternly, watching the man down the barrel of the SIG.

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><p><strong>AN:** _So? What'd you think? Please leave a review and let me know. (I'll try to make longer chapters in the future.)_


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:**_Wow! My inbox almost blew up with all the alerts I got for this fict! Thanks!_

_This is another short chapter, but the next one should be longer...I have a cold right now and I'm hocked up on cold medicine. I've read through this twice, but if there are any mistakes__, I'm sorry.  
>If my writing of accents is off, please feel free to correct me (nicely) and I'll see what I can do. I haven't written anything with hardcore accents before so this should be interesting. Also, I haven't written anything with this large of a cast before either, so if someone seems OOC, please let me know about that, too (again, nicely).<em>

_I forgot to mention this last chapter, but I don't own the Walking Dead or anything you recognize...if I did, I'd have a better job and more fun._

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><p>She watched the man in the Hummer jolt, then back out, and raise his crossbow towards her all in one swift movement. The two stared each other down. His intense, steady blue eyes quickly scanned her, while her angered brown eyes scanned him. From behind the man, she could hear shouting from the other two vehicles and out of the corner of her eye, she saw two men, a younger male, and a woman running towards them with weapons in hand. She shifted her eyes quickly to the runners to take in what she was up against before returning her eyes to the crossbow and man in front of her.<p>

The running group stopped about fifty feet away and leveled their weapons at her. The man in the Sheriff's hat held a pistol aimed at her. The other man, with dark hair, raised a shotgun with a scowl. The younger, Asian man held a shotgun, but not as surely as the others. The blonde woman held up a handgun with both hands. She saw all of this out of the corner of her trained eyes, while still keeping the crossbow man in her sights.

She knew she was badly outnumbered...again, in both weapons and people, and could feel the small bit of fear climb up her spine. She refused to let it show. Though, if anyone looked closely into her eyes, they could see her emotions on display. Her eyes were the windows to her soul.

As she stared down the man in front of her, she heard one of the others slowly move towards them. She flicked her eyes towards the intruder briefly. The one in the Sheriff's hat still had his pistol trained on her as he kept his steady movements forward.

"We don't want any trouble here." He said with a slight Southern accent.

"Yeah?" She replied, eyes switching between the two in front her every few seconds. "Then tell your...friend here to step away from the Hummer."

"Why? Whatchya hidin'?" The one with crossbow asked in his deep, Southern, backwoods drawl.

"Not hiding a thing." She replied instantly. "Just protectin' what's mine."

"Yours?" He mocked. "This here Hummvee looked abandoned ta me."

"That was the point, genius." She grumbled, tilting her head down slightly to glare at the two.

He glared back, but before they could continue with their banter, the Sheriff stepped in, taking a few steps closer as well.

"This yours?" he pointed to the Hummer with his free hand, lowering his pistol only slightly.

"In a manner of speaking, yes." She replied, still glaring and now ever cautious of the Sheriff.

"You're not going anywhere any time soon with steam coming out of it like that." He observed, glancing at the still steaming engine before looking back to her.

"Yeah, thanks for pointing that out. I had no idea." She said, sarcastically.

He grunted slightly and lowered his weapon down to his side. The one with the crossbow scoffed.

"Rick?" Someone from the armed group called.

He raised a hand behind him, which clearly told them to wait.

"How 'bout we all lower our weapons and we can talk." The one named Rick suggested.

She scoffed this time. "There's nothing to talk about. Y'all just keep going wherever you're headed and I'll head where I want to go. Simple."

"We can help you."

"With what? You got a mechanic that can fix Hummers with you?" She asked in growing agitated sarcasm.

"He might be able to help."

The scowl on her face dropped, but the SIG stayed raised. "Oh...well, in that case, tell your buddy here to lower his crossbow and I'll lower my pistol." She glared back at the man in front of her.

"You first." Crossbow man grunted.

"Same time then." She sighed, resisting the urge to roll her eyes.

It took a moment, but he nodded once. She clicked the safety back in place and slowly started to lower the SIG at the same time he lowered the crossbow. When both weapons were at their sides (though both still tense and ready to raise them immediately if needed), she looked over at the Sheriff. He nodded, then turned to look at the three behind him.

"'S alright. Lower the guns." He called.

The three lowered the weapons, then slowly made their way towards the Hummer.

The woman glanced at the approaching group, then swept her gaze back to the crossbow-wielding redneck still standing at the door of the Hummer. The two continued to stare at each other, taking the other in, until the group arrived, then she looked away first to take in the new-comers.

The Sheriff, Rick, turned to the woman. "Andrea, go git Dale. Tell 'im there's engine trouble." He turned to the younger, Asian man. "Glenn, go with 'er and tell everyone it's okay."

"What about her?" The woman, Andrea, said, pointing in the other woman's direction.

Rick looked back to her for a moment before looking back to Andrea. "We're just gonna talk."

Andrea looked the woman up and down before turning and heading back towards the small convoy, a frown forming on her face. The Asian man followed after a quick smile to the woman. Once they headed off, Rick turned back to her.

"I'm Rick." He said, then pointed to the dark-haired man next to him. "This is Shane. And that's Daryl." He motioned to the crossbow man.

She nodded, then continued to look between the three men silently.

"You got a name?" Shane asked.

"I do." She replied.

"And?"

"And what? You askin' me what my name is? Or where I'm from or some stupid shit like that?" She huffed in reply.

The one with the crossbow, Daryl, scoffed a laugh. "She's got a mouth on 'er, don't she?"

The woman held back a smirk the best she could.

Shane sighed. "Fine. What's yer name?"

She paused a moment before reluctantly giving her first name only.

"Jada."

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><p><strong>AN:**_ There you go...you finally get her first name. No last name, yet...I have plans. :-P  
><em>

_So, seriously, let me know what you think and if anything was...off._

_Oh, and being a former film major I have to point this out: the amount of dirt on Daryl's face in "Chupacabra" changed from shot to shot and it bothered the HELL outta me! I wanted to run down to Atlanta and ask the editors if they seriously noticed that or not...then find Norman and give him a hug or something. LOL.  
><em>


	3. Author's Note

**Author's Note (important):**

I'm really sorry to have to do this, but I have to put a halt on my stories for a while...

On November 21, 2011, we had to put my dog of fifteen years (and four months) to sleep. :'-( She was the love of my life; she was _MY_ dog.

This week has been extremely rough for me and my family. This Thanksgiving was the first that we really knew she was gone...she's normally under the table looking for scraps of turkey, but she wasn't there this year. I almost went to pick a piece of turkey off my plate and lower it under the table, but stopped myself and almost started crying. Even right now it's six in the morning and I haven't slept at all...every time I close my eyes, I see her and start crying. I'm not sleeping tonight. I've cried myself to sleep every night since she passed.

I've tried to write something for any of the stories I have going, but anything I write is shitty. I'm finding it very hard to write romance when my heart has a large chunk taken out of it. I'm depressed and sad.

For those of you [assholes] who're thinking: 'It's just a dog'...fuck you! She was a member of this family and her passing is and will be hard; especially with the upcoming holiday(s).

So, again, I'm sorry, but I can't write right now. I'm not sure when I'll be able to again...maybe in the new year, maybe sooner. I'll keep working and writing down notes, but for now everything is on hold.

(Sorry if you get two of these...I'm an idiot and still type 2010 when I mean 2011...and I'm a bit sleepy/not with it...)


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N:**_ Alright. Well, I'm back...for now. I just want to say thank you to everyone who sent me a message. I appreciated it. I'm still not 100 percent "better", but I'm not as bad as I was. (There's good days and bad days.) I figured I could write this story because there's no real romance yet...mostly anger, which also helps me. Having the second half of season 2 back on the air helps A LOT, too. :-P  
><em>

_I've been working on this for the past few days, so it's nice and long for y'all. If something is off or doesn't seem right, you can kindly let me know in a review...like I said, I'm still not 100 percent and it might show in some places._

_Anyway, enjoy!_

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><p>"Jada? That like Cher?" The dark-haired one, Shane, questioned. "No last name?"<p>

Jada glared. "I have one, but I don't trust ya further than I can throw ya right now, so that's all ya get." She replied. "And Cher has a last name, she just chooses not to use it."

"Alright, alright." The Sheriff said, hands stretched to the sides as he stepped slightly between the two. He looked to Shane before focusing on Jada. "What're you doin' out here?"

"Driving." She readily answered. "Surviving, just like you."

"Headed anywhere in particular?"

She glared again. "I don't think that's any of your damn business."

"I wasn't askin' for specifics."

"And you ain't gettin' any." Jada readjusted her grip on her SIG. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Daryl adjust his grip on the crossbow with both hands, ready to raise, and possibly use it if necessary.

There was a tense silence as Jada shifted her feet slightly so she was squared off against the men. The four heard footsteps coming towards them and Rick turned to the sounds. Daryl and Shane kept their eyes firmly locked on her. Jada's eyes darted between everyone. The woman came back, leading an older gentleman in a bucket hat and carrying a tool box. The two stopped a foot or two behind Shane's position.

"Jada, this is Dale. He's fairly handy with cars." Rick introduced. "He's gotten that RV goin' more than a few times."

Jada nodded once. "Do what ya can."

Dale nodded with a smile and walked over to the hood of the Hummer. Daryl stepped a few steps away to give him room, but still kept close watch on the unknown woman. Rick stepped up next to Dale to attempt to help with what little car knowledge he had. Jada noticed that Shane and the woman were stood closer together than they were when she came back. She could tell something was going on between them that they wanted to keep secret...not that she cared. With a mental shrug, she swept her gaze over the group again before landing on the two at the hood of Hummer.

"I think this is beyond my skills." She heard the older man say.

_Fuckin' perfect_. She thought, her shoulders sagging ever so slightly.

"Nothin' you can do?" She spoke up softly.

Dale turned to face her. "'Fraid not. A Hummvee is a bit different than the cars I'm used to. Sorry."

"Fuck." She muttered, rubbing a hand over her face, momentarily letting her guard down before raising it again quickly.

Rick looked at everyone around him before speaking up. "We can give ya a lift somewhere."

Shane and Daryl turned on Rick instantly.

"Ya fuckin' serious?" Daryl asked, voice raised.

"I don't think that's such a good idea, Rick." Shane said evenly.

Jada could see the tension building and stepped in. "Which way you headed?" She asked, looking at the Sheriff.

Rick turned to her. "South, towards Fort Benning."

Jada kept her surprise hidden, if only just barely (her eyes widening only a fraction before returning to normal). From what she'd already seen, what she knew, that wasn't the smartest move on their part, but it wasn't any of her concern at the moment.

"Well, problem solved. I'm going north to Atlanta, so I won't be a burden to y'all." She said with a short, sarcastic grin.

There was a moment of silence. The others glanced at each other.

"Atlanta?" Questioned Dale.

"Yeah, ya know. Big city? Capital of Georgia? Couple miles that way?" She pointed the way they had come from.

They all glanced at each other again.

"There's nothin' but walkers there." Shane finally said. "No living people left."

Jada let one hand release her SIG, her hands dropping to her sides as she lowered her gaze to the ground, eyes shifting furiously back and forth. She frowned before looking back up.

"You lookin' for someone there?" Rick asked.

Jada remained silent, but glanced steadily back at the Sheriff. After several moments, he put his hands on his hips and sighed.

"Come with us." He said, then raised a hand to the oncoming protests of those with him. "At least 'til you can find another car. We can always use another gun, too."

She looked at each member of the group in front of her: Shane and the woman clearly didn't want her to come, Dale and Rick seemed friendly and helpful enough, and Daryl, well, he was just hard to read with that poker face of his. The odds were not in her favor, but what other choice did she have? She had no water left and it was the middle of summer. With no more Hummer, her choice was obvious. Sighing, she lowered her head again, shaking it.

"Fine." She finally said, tucking her SIG into the waistband at the back of her cargo pants. "But only until I can get new wheels."

"Deal." Rick said, walking towards her and offering his hand. She looked down at it before looking back up to his face and shaking his hand. "Get what ya need from the Hummer. There's room in the RV for ya." Rick smiled.

Jada nodded, then back peddled to the back of the Hummer and opened the door. She quickly grabbed her rucksack full of extra clothes and essential survival gear. After slipping her arms through the straps and securing it to her back, she grabbed a medium-sized duffle bag with food and other supplies. The last bag she grabbed was a tightly packed two person tent with a sleeping bag stuffed inside. She looked around the back of the Hummer for anything else she needed before leaving. Seeing a sheathed combat fighting knife on the floor, she picked it up and shoved it in her right cargo pocket (she'd strap it to her belt later). Backing up, she set the tent on the ground to shut to door, then moved quickly to the passenger's side and opened the door to grab her small bag, which she shoved in her left cargo pocket with the binoculars. She then went back to grab the tent and made her way back to Rick and his gang, who had lowered their weapons.

When they saw her approach, Daryl went to the motorcycle and stashed the crossbow, preparing to leave; Jada watched the way he fluidly went through the motions. When he was settled on the bike, he looked back over to her with a slight glare. She turned her gaze away quickly and watched as Shane and the woman walked towards the RV. Rick nodded to her and motioned for her to follow the two, while he made his way back to the station wagon. Dale approached her, holding out his hand with a smile.

"I'm Dale." He said, then retracted his hand when he realized she couldn't return the handshake.

"Jada." She replied with a tight-lipped smile.

Dale sighed. "Well, come on." He motioned with his head towards the RV.

With a nod, Jada followed a few steps behind him, taking one more look at Daryl out of the corner of her eye as she did so. He was still watching her, she could tell.

At the door to the RV, Dale walked up first. Taking a breath, Jada followed. She was surprised to see several more people than she expected. At the top of the steps, she set her tent bag down and reached back down to shut the door, then looked back to the others. Dale patted her shoulder as he passed her to take his position in the driver's seat. He started up the RV as Jada set her other bag on the floor.

"Um. Hi?" She said as she jolted forward a step as Dale started to drive, following Daryl on his motorcycle.

The others looked at her. While Shane and Andrea looked at her hostilely, the other two looked at her curiously. The young Asian male in the passenger's seat (who was one of the originals to approach her), turned and held out his hand.

"Glenn." He said.

"Jada." She replied loud enough for everyone in the RV to hear.

Glenn nodded and turned back to face the road. A large black man stepped up next, offering his hand.

"T-Dog." He simply said.

Jada nodded, then glanced at Shane and Andrea, who had removed themselves to the back 'bedroom' glaring at her through the opened door. T-Dog glance over his shoulder at them, then looked back to Jada with an eye roll.

"Don't worry about them." He said. "They're just being paranoid."

"I'm not worried. I'd do the same if I was in their shoes." She replied, taking her rucksack off her back and setting on the floor next to the small table. She moved her other two bags closer as well, then took a seat on the booth seat at the table.

Before he sat opposite her, T-Dog reached into a small cooler and took out a water bottle. He handed it to her with a grin.

"Thank you." She muttered, twisting the top off and setting it on the table. She took small sips from the bottle, mindful not to gulp and make herself sick. Within minutes, she had the bottle drained.

"Thirsty, huh?" T-Dog asked.

"I've been without water for almost three days now." She explained softly. "Good thing my damn Hummer crapped out when it did or else I would be in some deep shit."

T-Dog chuckled. "We got plenty uh water, so drink ya fill."

With a nod of thanks, Jada stood and grabbed another bottle of water, then returned to the bench. She sipped the water even slower than the previous bottle to savor it.

0000000000000000

Around dusk that evening, Jada was still with this gang of rag-tags. They hadn't come across a set of wheels that would A) suit her needs and/or B) had any gas.

They were currently sitting in the middle of the highway, waiting for Daryl to come back down the side road he was searching (on the motorcycle). Being on the road at night was a bad idea, so Daryl was sent to look for a place to camp for the night, at least. While they waited (and during the drive), T-Dog, and eventually Glenn, filled Jada in on the different people in the group and how they all came to be in this convoy. They gave her a lot of information, but she did her best to file it all into her sharp mind.

Several minutes of sitting still had passed before they heard the motorcycle come back towards them. Daryl came back into sight and paused next to Dale's window.

"Anything?" Jada heard Dale ask over the roar of the bike.

"End uh th' road. Campsite." She barely heard Daryl's short reply.

Daryl then drove by the window to pass on the information to the station wagon behind them. Jada watched Daryl and the bike as they went by until she couldn't see anymore. She then looked back at T-Dog across from her. He was smirking.

"You gotta thing for that?" He asked.

Jada rolled her eyes with a scoff. "A thing for motorcycles, yes. A thing for crossbow-wielding Rednecks?...Not so much."

T-Dog snorted a bit with a shake of his head.

Daryl came back to the front of the convoy to lead them to the campsite. A few minutes later, the RV, station wagon, and motorcycle were parked along the path to the main road and the people were getting ready to search the area for walkers and dinner. The men were standing off to one side, dividing themselves up to search. The women were getting the campsite set up.

Jada was standing next to the door to the RV with her arms crossed under her breasts, not knowing what to do. With a breath, she uncrossed her arms and walked over to the group of men. She stopped just behind Rick and Shane.

"I wanna help." She said, gaining their attention and making them face her. "I have a gun and, yeah, I know how to use it." She locked eyes with Rick, knowing it would be his decision as leader of the group.

"No." He outright denied her. "You should stay here. Watch them." He subtly tilted his head towards the women.

Jada scoffed. "What're they gonna do? Tricks?"

Rick frowned and grabbed her arm to pull her away from the others. "Ya see the dark haired woman and the little boy?" He asked, softly, when they were far enough away.

"Yes." She answered, not looking over, but knew who he spoke of.

"That's ma wife and son. They and the other woman and little girl don't know how to use guns. You and Andrea protect them until we get back." He instructed sternly. "From the way ya were standin' an' holdin' that gun when we found ya, I have no doubt ya know what yer doin', but stay with them."

Jada looked over his face before nodding. "Fine. But next search, I get ta help."

"Fine."

Rick walked back over to the men and Jada watched him with a scowl. She saw Daryl looking at her after the others looked back at Rick and she thought she saw a hint of a smirk across his lips before the mask of indifference went back up and he looked back at Rick.

With a short exhale of breath, Jada walked over to the women around the fire pit. She sat down heavily on one of the log benches and watched the group of men as they dispersed into the surrounding woods. Once the last man disappeared, someone sat down on the log next to her, making her glance to her left and automatically starting to reach for her SIG. She relaxed when she met eyes with Rick's wife.

"Lori." She introduced sticking her hand out.

"Jada." She replied, shaking the hand extended to her. "Or JJ."

"JJ?"

"My initials. Kinda stuck when I was a kid."

Nodding, Lori spun on the log to face everyone else, who'd taken a seat on logs to wait. Jada followed her example. The little boy came over to Lori and sat on the ground at the woman's feet. "This," she said running her hand over his hair, "is my son, Carl."

"Hi." Carl said, tentatively.

"Hey, Carl. I'm Jada...or JJ if you prefer." She gave the boy a small smile and held her hand out to him. He shook it with his own smile.

Across the pit from them was the other woman and little girl. Lori motioned over to them. "That's Carol," the woman gave a little wave, "And her daughter, Sophia." Sophia gave a tiny wave as well.

Lori pointed to the remaining woman. "And that's—"

"Andrea." Jada cut her off.

Andrea quickly shot a glare at her, which Jada shrugged off. "Between Rick and T-Dog and Glenn, it was easy to figure that out."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Andrea huffed.

"Means T-Dog and Glenn were passing the time by telling me this little group's beginning. But I guess you were too busy with Shane to notice." Jada quipped with a smirk.

Andrea's eyes widened and Lori let out a tiny gasp, but Jada ignored her.

"Anyway," Jada started again, not wanting to fight the woman on their first day together, and looked towards the fire pit, "anyone know how to start a fire?"

She saw Andrea huff in indignation and stomp off towards the RV. Lori and Carol were looking at Jada with wide eyes and slack jaws, but she just smirked slightly and stood up. "No? Well, I guess I will."

She then walked a little ways away (to the edge of the woods without going into the trees) to grab some kindling on the ground, then some bigger pieces for when the kindling caught. Bringing them back, she knelt next to the pit and set the wood next to her. She took the kindling and stacked them in the center of the pit to form a teepee of sorts. Sitting back on her heels, she dug into her left cargo pocket to take out the small bag. She took a look up and saw Carl watching her intently. She took a quick glance at Lori, then Carol to see that their expressions were calm again...though Lori seemed a bit on edge.

"Carl," Jada started as she pulled the bag out of her pocket, "Do you know how to start a fire?" Carl shook his head. "Would you like to?" The boy's face lit up as he nodded vigorously. "As long as it's okay with mom." Jada looked at Lori again.

"As long as you're always with an adult. No fire by yourself, young man, ya hear me?" Lori looked at her son.

"Sure, mom." He agreed, then scooted closer to Jada.

Jada then looked to Sophia, who was cradled comfortably in her mother's arms. "Sophia, would you like to learn?"

The girl looked up at her mother, who shrugged as if to say 'you're choice' before looking back at Jada. "No, thank you."

Jada nodded, then turned her attention to the boy next to her. "First, I need you to go over to that pine tree and grab a handful of the needles and a pine cone or two." Carl eagerly got up and ran over to the indicated pine tree and got what was asked before running back. Jada opened the bag and dumped the contents out into her hand; out fell a Swiss Army knife, a tightly packed survival/first aid kit, a small flashlight, and a flint and striker on a carabineer. She took the collapsible binoculars from her pocket and stuck them back in the bag along with everything else except the flint and striker. She put the bag back in her pocket and turned to Carl, who had taken a seat on her right. She instructed Carl on how to stack the pine needles and cones under the 'tent' of kindling she had built.

"Since we're out in the woods and relying on nature to survive, fire starters are in short supply, so we have to rely on pine cones." She picked up an extra cone, "Nature's fire starters. Along with pine needles."

Jada set the cone down and leaned towards their pile with the flint and striker in her hands. She ran the striker over the flint a few times before the little pine needles caught the sparks. She sat back and watched the kindling catch before adding more wood to feed the flames, explaining to Carl exactly what she was doing, feeling that the first instruction should not be a hands-on approach.

By the time the men started to trickle back, the fire was a decent size: not too low and not too high. Rick came over to the women seated around the fire...Andrea had joined them again when they were settled.

"Nothin' in the area, but still keep alert." He said looking at them all. "Who started the fire?"

"JJ." Carl immediately said. "And I helped!" He said proudly.

"JJ?" Rick questioned.

"Jada." Lori said softly, nodding to the woman on the log next to her. Rick's gaze shifted to the newcomer.

"My initials." She explained softly, glancing around and frowning. "Aren't you one short?" She asked, indicating the returning men, noticing that Daryl was not with them.

"He was going to look for dinner. If we're lucky, we'll have deer meat...if not, probably squirrel." Dale said bringing a folding chair up to the fire and setting up on the other side of Jada.

"Squirrel?" She asked with a small smile. "Can't say I ever had squirrel before."

"Believe me, you won't want it after you've been eating it for days." Lori said.

Jada shrugged and turned her attention back to the fire as everyone either took a seat or found one to drag over. T-Dog explained that he and Shane found a creek a hundred yards or so directly behind the campsite. It would come in handy when they had to fill up more water bottles...and to clean clothes. Carol left her daughter next to the fire as she went to the RV to gather the cooking gear they would need for when Daryl got back. While they waited, they chatted. Jada chose not to partake...yet. Rather she became a wallflower and observed all that went on around her.

About half an hour after everyone settled, Daryl came back from his hunt with a few squirrels in one hand, the crossbow hanging from the other. No one seemed to acknowledge or even realize that he came back...except for Jada, who watched as he planted himself on the ground far enough away from the group to not be included, but close enough to the fire to see what he was doing. He started to skin and prepare the meat with a long hunting knife he took from the sheath at his right hip.

Jada watched him for a few minutes, entranced by the effortless way he went about taking care of the meat. When he paused for a moment (probably feeling her eyes on him), he looked up and locked eyes with her. Not wanting to be the first to back down, Jada continued to watch him until he returned his attention to the squirrel. She then released the breath she was unconsciously holding and turned back to the people around the fire. She caught T-Dog's eye, as he was directly across the fire from her, and the smirk on his face. Rolling her eyes for all their worth, she looked down into the fire.

Minutes later, Daryl brought the squirrel meat over to the fire. Carol lifted a pan she had placed over the fire earlier (to heat it up) and Daryl put the meat into the pan. Everyone heard the sizzle of the meat as it began to cook immediately. Daryl returned to where the remains of his squirrels were to get rid of them properly before they attracted walkers.

Jada watched Carol as she cooked the meat, wincing slightly when Carol used a tongs instead of a spatula to flip the meat, which stuck to the pan a bit.

Once the meat was cooked through, Carol dished it out on to plates and they passed the full plates around the fire until everyone got some. Daryl had come over to grab a plate, then retreated to the edges of the fire's light again.

As they dug into the meat, Jada managed to chop off a bit with the edge of her fork. She stabbed the piece and held it up to look at it closer. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lori glance over at her with a small smile, trying not to laugh. With a slight shrug, Jada put the meat in her mouth and chewed slowly.

"What'd ya think?" Dale asked from the other side of her.

She glanced up and saw that most of the members around the fire were watching her as well. Not particularly liking being the center of attention, she dipped her head and swallowed her bite.

"Not bad." She eventually said, then smiled softly. "Could use some seasoning, though...but beggars can't be choosers these days, huh?"

There were a few chuckles from around the fire before people went back to eating. Hearing a scoff from her right, beyond the circle, she looked over and saw Daryl looking back at her as he chewed his own piece of meat. When he winked at her, she turned her attention back to her plate.

_What the in name of holy fuck does a wink from stone-faced, social outcast Daryl mean?_ Jada wondered as she took another bite of her squirrel.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**_ The next chapter should be really long, too...and I already have that one sort of planned out. When I write and post it is another story, though._

_So what was up Daryl being in long sleeves for the later part of tonight's episode (Triggerfinger)? I don't approve of that wardrobe choice! Either no sleeves or no shirt if I were in charge...then again, if I were in charge, he'd be NAKED! LOL!_

_Thanks again and please review!  
><em>


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: **_(Is anyone getting e-mail alerts from the site? I haven't gotten any and just wanted to know if that was just me or the site was being cool.)_

_OMG! If you saw the finale tonight, please PM me! I need someone/some people to talk excitedly to about it that can be as excited about it as I am! I can't wait for season 3 to start up!_

_On notes referring to this story: I made this chapter nice and long. (You're welcome.) It took me a few days to write it because 1) I did something to my hand playing hockey and it hurts to type after a while__ (I'm going for x-rays this week), 2) I could figure out how I wanted things to be unraveled so I kept switching things around, and 3) I couldn't stop writing! I could have added a lot more, but forced myself to stop here, so I have a spring board for the next chapter._

_Alright, here we go!_

* * *

><p>After their meal, most members of the group pitched their tents around the campsite. Jada was no exception. After stacking her plate and fork with everyone else's, she made her way to the RV to grab her bags. Walking back down the stairs, she looked around at the free spaces and ended up picking a spot underneath the pine tree she had Carl grab needles and cones from earlier. To her right, she could see space for another tent, then the line of vehicles. To her left, more space, then Rick, Lori, and Carl's tent. Next to them was more space, then Carol and Sophia, followed by T-Dog, then another space, and Shane rounded out the site across from the space to Jada's right.<p>

She didn't know where Andrea, Dale and Daryl were going to camp...she just hoped that Andrea was no where near her.

Jada let her bags fall to the ground, then knelt down with a wince to open the bag containing her tent. After she pulled the poles out and started to push them together, she saw Daryl walk around the side of the RV carrying his own tent bag. She focused back on her own tent, but looked back up when she saw Daryl's tent bag tossed to the ground in the empty tent space to her right. She glanced at the man, who nodded once, then both went back to pitching their own tents.

_Well, at least it's not Andrea._ Jada thought with a mental shrug. _But, fuck! Daryl? Tongues will wag...and talk about fuckin' awkward._

Keeping her attention focused on pitching her tent, she refused to look back over to Daryl. Once pitched (in record time), she tossed her bags in, then followed them. She unrolled her sleeping bag and set it to the right of the opening, on the side further away from the redneck next door.

As she was kneeling to move her rucksack, she paused. _Holy fuck!_ She thought, hand half-way to the rucksack. _Do I have a fuckin' school-girl crush? I'm not a fuckin' teenager anymore!_ She continued to reach for the bag, frowning. _No. No, no, no, no, that ain't right. Was this because he winked at me? He's not even my type!_ She moved the bag to the back of the tent as she rolled her eyes. _Really? 'Not your type?' Not like there's a big choice these days._ She paused again, sitting on her sleeping bag. _Oh, my god! Stop!_ She shook her head, roughly. _It _has _been a while since you've been laid._ Her head shot up and she frowned deeper. _Thank you, so much, conscious, for bringing that up. Fuck you._ She started to get up again to exit the tent. _For fuck's sake, remember your goddamn training._ She mentally grumbled before taking a deep breath with closed eyes. She then exited the tent, pushing her very wayward thoughts to the back of her mind. With pursed lips and a small frown, she returned to her seat by the fire, tossing another small piece of wood on it and stoking it.

Slowly, the others started to trickle back to the warmth of the fire after their places of sleep were settled. Conversations picked up again, but once more Jada sat there as an outsider, listening and taking care of the fire. Again, Daryl was on the fringes of the firelight.

Within the next hour, both Carl and Sophia headed to their sleeping bags. Carol sat just outside of her tent to keep an eye on her daughter, but also stay in the conversation.

Dale had just told the group a joke his father had told him when he was younger. After the laughter started to die down (Jada with a small smirk on her face), Glenn made eye contact with the newcomer.

"So, what'd you do before the world went to hell?" He asked.

Jada froze, glancing at everyone before she answered steadily, if a little unsettled. "I was a chef...for the United States Army." She looked back down into the fire.

Silence.

She took a quick glance up to see that all eyes were on her once more. She saw some slack jaws, others with looks of loathing (mostly from Shane and Andrea). Feeling her cheeks heat up, she quickly glanced back down.

"You son of a bitch."

Glancing up again, she found the source of the voice and glared at Shane from across the fire. "Excuse me?" She said, frowning and tilting her head down to glare at him.

Shane slowly rose from his seat. "Ya heard me."

"Yeah, I did, but I don't see why that warrants-"

"Did ya know," he interrupted, stepping slowly around the fire towards her, "they used napalm in the city?"

"Napalm?" She asked, confused.

"Yeah, napalm." Shane continued. "We thought ya somma-bitches killed Rick."

Jada stood up slowly, still frowning (but more confused), and stepped back over the log she was sitting on to face Shane as he got closer to her. "Now I have no idea what you're talking about." She said with a small shake of her head. Her fists clenched, ready to defend herself with a brawl if necessary. _Didn't box all those years for nothing._ She thought.

"Rick was in a hospital in Atlanta when all hell broke loose. Shane, Carl, and I were stuck on the highway with most of the population getting out of the city. We saw Army helicopters fly in and drop napalm in the street." Lori explained softly from Jada's side.

Jada looked at her with wide eyes, her fists unclenching. She saw the woman grab her husband's hand with both of hers and squeeze. Jada looked back at the seething man in front of her, thinking quickly.

"Didja ever hear the phrase 'don't ask, don't tell'?" She asked Shane calmly, looking up at him.

"Yeah. 'Course."

"It doesn't just refer to a person's sexual orientation." She paused to let that sink in before continuing. "I was head chef at Fort Gordon. My life, after basic, was in that kitchen. I rarely got to see sunlight." She scoffed. "I have no idea what anyone else on that base did when they left those gates. Hell, I don't know what they did _on_ the base. I only know what they did when they entered my mess hall." She concluded. "You didn't realize there's more than one military base around here, huh?"

Shane didn't answer.

"Obviously not." She paused again. "Next time you confront me about my past, my job, my former co-workers...get your facts straight." Her voice gradually rose, but never reached a shouting stage. "Fort Gordon only has one helicopter." She huffed. "And I know for a fact that that helicopter has been on the helipad since this shit started."

"And how do ya know that?" Shane asked, backing down slightly.

"Ya ever hear a helicopter?" She shot back.

Shane nodded.

"Ya realize how loud they are, then. That helipad was right outside-ah my kitchen." Jada glared at him, daring him to contradict her again.

Shane nodded again, then slowly took steps away from her back to his seat. Jada kept her eyes on him until he sat down. When he did sit down, Jada retook her own seat, glancing at the others around the fire. She leaned forward to rest her elbows on her knees.

"So that Hummer..." Rick let his question hang in the air.

Jada looked up at him with a smirk. "That one I borrowed from Fort Gillem. I had one from Gordon before it ran out of gas when I got near Gillem." She explained.

"Fort Gillem?" Glenn questioned.

Jada sighed, mentally preparing herself to relive the past weeks. "I guess y'all wanna know what happened." She said, looking around and seeing nods. "Alright. As I mentioned, I was head chef at Fort Gordon. I was damn good at my job, too. What I'm about to tell ya is only what I've heard from soldiers at meal times. Just keep that in mind. Might be speculation, not fact." She explained, receiving more nods. "When this...thing hit, people started coming to us for help. Hospitals were getting overrun by people with some sort of infection or virus or something. I really don't know what the symptoms were. We had to start turning people away 'cause _we_ were starting to become overrun. Most of the battalions stationed at the base were sent out to the larger cities when people started to...well, re-animate. Very few came back. When they did, they somehow got sick, died, and turned into those...things." She paused for a breath.

"Walkers." T-Dog clarified.

"Right, walkers." Jada said, playing with her fingers as she continued. "I knew some bad shit went down when my CO...er, commanding officer came stumbling into the kitchen after coming back from one of those missions. Part of his face was gone; rotted, pealing, grey. He was...snarling and shuffling. My sous chef and I didn't know what to do." She let out a non-humorous laugh. "We threw cutlery at him. Anything we could find to keep him away from us; spatulas, cutting boards, whisks, pots and pans. Eventually we got backed into a corner. My sous chef. He...he got his legs pulled out from under him by our CO, who we managed to get on the ground somehow. I watched our CO take a bite out of his leg, then dig seamlessly into his stomach." Jada closed her eyes and took a deep breath. _This sucks balls having to do this._ She thought. Opening her eyes again, she stared into the fire.

"I couldn't move, couldn't breathe, as my sous was eaten alive in front of me. When my CO was done with his...meal, he realized I was still standing there. I looked around, trying to find something to defend myself with since guns aren't allowed, loaded, on base. The only thing closest to me was a butcher block of knives. I threw 'em all at him. The five inch steak knife stuck him in the chest, in his heart. He paused but didn't go down. I knew I was in deep shit then. If damage to the heart doesn't kill something, go for the brain next, right? So I took my last knife, an eight inch chef's knife, and jammed it in his eye socket."

She paused a moment to scrub her hand over her face. She could still see it so vividly in her mind. Shaking her head, Jada forced herself to continue.

"As soon as I could, I grabbed a bag of non-perishable foods, some bottles of water, a few more knives, and got outta the kitchen. I ran to my room, packed my rucksack with clothes and essentials, grabbed my tent and sleeping bag then tried to get the hell outta dodge. Ran into more...walkers as I ran to the garage and grabbed a Hummer, hotwired it, and got outta there, taking as many comrades-in-arms cum walkers out as I could along the way."

Jada was silent as she finished retelling the first and main part of her tale. _No need to tell them everything at once...or at all._ She thought. Almost of their own accord, her eyes glanced briefly over at Daryl to see if he had any sort of reaction to her tale. He was frowning slightly, but otherwise had his stony mask on.

Everyone else around the fire was silent as well, contemplating.

"So how'd you end up on I-75?" Dale asked after several minutes.

Before Jada could speak, the zipper to Rick, Lori, and Carl's tent went up and Carl stepped out.

"Were you really in the Army?" He asked, stopping just outside of the tent.

"Carl, baby, I thought you were going to bed." Lori said, standing up immediately.

"Can't sleep." He replied, walking over to his mother and sitting on the ground in between her and her husband. "So were you?" He looked up at Jada.

Jada's eyes flicked to Rick's, silently asking him if she should admit it to the kid. She received a small nod from him as Lori sat back down.

"Yeah, kid." She answered quietly. "Staff Sergeant Jada Jenner at your service." She gave a half-hearted, two fingered salute.

There was more silence and Jada glanced at Carol as she let out a small gasp, covering her mouth with her hand. Jada looked around at everyone else in confusion.

"Did you say Jenner?" Dale asked, eyes wider than normal.

"Yes?" Jada questioned, confusion returning.

"Did you have any relative working at the CDC in Atlanta?" Rick asked softly.

"Yeah, my...my parents." She responded. "How did ya-?" She cut herself off as realization hit her as hard as a punch to the face. "You were there. Weren't you?"

Rick nodded solemnly, once.

Jada looked down at the fire again. "May I ask what happened to them?"

There was silence as everyone looked at one another.

"They're dead." Shane said bluntly from across the fire.

Jada looked up and glared. "Thank you for being so blunt." She said sarcastically. She then frowned and closed her eyes, breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth. "How?" She finally asked, opening her eyes and staring blankly into the fire again.

"We were told yer mother contracted the virus and turned into a walker. She donated her body to her husband-yer father, I guess-for research." Rick started to explain.

Jada looked up at the Deputy with a frown. "Candace Jenner was a scientific genius. How could she have turned into...a walker?"

"I don't know." He answered honestly.

Jada could see his honesty and nodded. "And," she swallowed, "my father?"

She saw Rick pause, clearly not sure how to explain it gently. "He died when the CDC imploded. The oxygen ran out and the computer self-detonated the place." He explained the best he could.

"Then how did y'all get out and he didn't?" She asked, voice raised, clearly angry now.

"He chose to stay behin'. Didn't think there was anythin' left for 'im." Shane took over, emotionless.

_Oh, dad._ Jada thought sadly. _You should have known this world can't get rid of me that easily_.

She needed time on her own to clear her head and get her depressing thoughts under control. She stood up, eyes distant as she started to walk around the campfire. "Excuse me." She whispered as she continued towards the tree line and disappeared into them, heading towards the creek.

* * *

><p>Those left around the campfire watched the Staff Sergeant walk off. None moved.<p>

"Should someone keep an eye on her?" Lori asked softly, watching the spot where Jada's form disappeared.

No one answered.

But out of the corner of his eye, Rick saw Daryl silently get up from his perch near his tent, go in it, then come back out seconds later. He had his Horton Scout HD 125 crossbow in one hand and a bottle of liquor he confiscated from the CDC in the other. Rick watched the redneck stealthily make his way into the woods behind his tent and continued to watch his movements as he made his way around the campsite to follow in Jada's footsteps. Rick smirked slightly.

And here he (and everyone else in the group) thought the loner only cared about himself and his lost brother. Turned out the man _could_ care two shits about others...when he chose.

Rick looked back at Lori and the others when he couldn't see movement from Daryl anymore.

"She'll be fine." He said softly, taking his wife's hand.

* * *

><p>Jada stumbled through the woods, following the worn path that she hoped led to the creek. She needed some time to herself. If she had to stay away from the others the rest of the night to do so, so be it. She felt her eyes start to water, but refused to let one of those goddamn tears fall. Closing her eyes for a moment as she kept walking, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She missed the rock in the middle of the path and tripped over it, stumbling and falling down to one knee. She scrapped her hands on the ground, feeling something cut deep into her left.<p>

"Fuck." She growled, picking herself up.

Her fall jarred her right leg, where a wound was heeling a few inches above her knee. She rubbed it lightly to ease the pain.

She wiped away the lone tear that managed to fall with the back of her hand as she continued walking.

Hearing the creek before she saw it, Jada sighed, knowing her guess about the path was right. After a few more yards, she saw the glow of the half moon reflecting off of the steadily moving water. She found a spot that gave easy access to the water and knelt down along the edge. Reaching out as far as she could, she dipped her dirtied hands into the water and waved them about to get the dirt off...and to semi-clean the cut. She'd have to get a good and better look at it when she got back to camp, where there was more sufficient light. For now, she'd just have to keep it clean. She dried her hands by patting them on her cargo pants.

Standing up straight, she looked around and found a wide log strategically placed along the shore. It was angled towards the water, but the path could still be seen. Jada walked over and plopped down on it. She brought her knees up and wrapped her arms around them as she stared at the water.

_I thought I'd be able to protect you, mom and dad...or at the very least help._ Jada thought. _At least you're together. I just hoped I could have seen and talked to you one more time._ She sighed deeply.

Hearing a twig snap under a foot, she quickly reached behind and pulled her SIG out from the waistband of her cargos, pointing it towards the sound, one finger on the trigger, one on the safety.

As Daryl walked into the small clearing, she moved her fingers as the man stopped, not even looking surprised to have a gun pointed at him.

Jada stared at him with his crossbow casually resting on his shoulder and a bottle of booze in hand. She lowered the weapon seconds later, tucking it back into her cargos.

"Should make more noise out here. Thought you were a walker." She deadpanned, looking back at the water.

"Ah knew ya wouldn't shoot." Daryl said, taking slow steps closer to the woman.

Jada glanced up at him, a small smirk on her lips. "Cocky bastard, aren't ya?" She asked.

Daryl shrugged the shoulder the crossbow wasn't resting on. He held the bottle of Southern Comfort out to Jada. "Thought ya could use a drink." He said, looking at the bottle and not her.

Jada rose an eyebrow at the half empty bottle, then glanced up at the redneck. Seeing his gaze was not on her, she slowly reached out and took the bottle.

"Thank you." She mumbled. "After a FUBAR day like today, I sure could use it."

Daryl nodded once, looking away, seeming embarrassed.

Jada watched him as he practically shuffled from foot to foot every few seconds. He seemed nervous. Agitated. Whether it was because he was alone with her or just nervous that there could be walkers around, she didn't know. It did seem very endearing to her, though. She held back a smirk.

_Screw being alone and thinking depressing shit._ She thought. _Could be fun to shoot the shit with the mysterious social outcast...and get my mind off mom and dad._

She scooted down the log a bit and nodded to the empty space next to her. "Have a seat." She said. When he didn't move, she sighed lightly. "I won't bite. Promise."

_This time_. She added with a mental smirk.

She could practically see the gears turning in his head as he still didn't move for several more seconds. When he finally nodded and slowly approached her, she gave him a single nod. As he lowered himself to the log, leaving as much space between them as possible, he took the crossbow off his shoulder and rested it on his lap.

Jada turned her attention to the SoCo in her hands and unscrewed the cap. When it was off, she stuck it in the left breast pocket of her flannel shirt.

"Didn't happen to bring any glasses, did ya?" She asked, not expecting him to have even thought about it.

"Nah." Daryl shook his head. "Not necessary." He then took the liquor out of her hands and took a large swig from the bottle before passing it back to her.

_I sure hope you're not full of diseases_. Jada thought, then muttered a "Cheers" before lifting the bottle to her own lips. She dumped a shot's worth of the alcohol into her mouth, then swallowed, feeling it burn all the way down to her stomach.

"Oh, that's good." She moaned. "It's been too long, my friend." She said, looking at the bottle in her hand.

From her left, Daryl scoffed, but when she looked up at him, he was staring straight ahead. She rolled her eyes and took another drink before handing it over to him.

The next fifteen minutes passed in silence as they continued to pass the bottle of SoCo back and forth, both lost in their own thoughts. Daryl, however, broke the silence after once again passing the near empty bottle back to Jada.

"That weren't yer whole story, were it?" He asked quietly.

Jada gazed down at the ground as she answered. "No." She said, unconsciously rubbing her wound. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Daryl turn his head towards her. She glanced at him to see where he was looking. She followed his line of sight to her leg, where her hand was still resting. She removed her hand and clutched the liquor bottle.

"Wha' happen'?" He drawled, eyes not leaving her leg.

Jada sighed and took another long swig from the bottle, then passed it to Daryl. "Brought a gun to a knife fight evidently." She said, glancing at him with a humorless smirk. Seeing his confusion, she elaborated. "I was on my way to Gillem from Gordon when I found a mass of cars on the road. I stopped to search the cars for any supplies. A group of five others thought the same thing. They were lyin' in wait 'till I found a med bag in the trunk of a van. Four of 'em were in my sights, but the fifth circled around behind me. While the four had guns pointed at me—and mine on them—the fifth fucker decided to sneak up and stab a knife through my leg. Right here." She pointed to the side of her leg, above her knee, where the wound was. "I went down and they took the bag from me. Then attempted to raid my Hummer. Fuckers didn't know I was military trained and could shoot. Took two of 'em out before they dug too deeply into my supplies. They managed to take most of my food and ammo before they fled. Had enough med supplies to clean and wrap my leg before moving on."

"Shit." Daryl said after a moment of silence. "No wonder ya were such a bitch when we found ya."

Jada glared up at him, only to grin when she saw his lips turned up slightly in a smirk. She chuckled softly. "I try." She said.

Daryl handed the bottle of Southern Comfort back to Jada and stood up. "Keep it. Ya need it more 'en me." He said. "'Sides...ah got more."

"Thanks." She said, tilting the bottle towards him before taking a drink.

He nodded shyly then turned to walk back towards camp. Before he got too far, Jada called out to him.

"Hey. Daryl?" When he stopped and turned back to her, she continued, looking down. "Could ya show me how ta prep meat? Squirrel or otherwise?" She could feel her cheeks turning pink.

"Thought ya were a chef." Daryl readily answered.

"Meat's normally already prepped when I get it." She admitted softly.

It took a long time for Daryl to answer her, so when she looked up, he nodded, albeit a little unsure.

Jada nodded in response and Daryl turned to walk back towards camp again. She watched him walk off before turning back to the bottle of SoCo in her hands. Draining the rest of the liquor, she took the cap out of her pocket and screwed it back on the empty bottle. Holding the bottle in her right hand, she opened her left hand to look at her palm. She clenched and unclenched her fingers, not feeling the pain from the cut. She grinned.

_Well, looks like the redneck knew just what I needed._ She thought.

She set the bottle on the ground next to her, leaning it against the log. Clasping her hands, Jada rested her elbows on her knees as she returned her eyes to the creek. She stayed that way for another five minutes, collecting her thoughts.

_Mom. Dad. You were the best at what you did; smarter than anyone I ever knew. I don't give a shit what anyone else thought. You guys did things no one else could dream about. I always loved you even when we fought and disagreed._ Jada sighed mentally and out loud._ Thank you for everything you've sacrificed for me. Doctors Candace and Edwin Jenner...love you both._

Jada then unfolded her hands and reached down to pick up the empty Southern Comfort bottle. She stood up, took one last look into the creek, then turned and made her own way back to camp.

When she made it back to the campsite, no one remained by the fire. They most likely headed to their tents to sleep. Jada would find no sleep that night. Too much was on her mind; she didn't feel tired, either. She went to her tent to stash the empty liquor bottle and grab a zip-up hoodie from her rucksack. After throwing the garment around her shoulders and slipping her arms through the sleeves, she grabbed some Neosporin and gauze from the other bag and left her tent again as she zipped up the hoodie a little more than half-way. Jada walked back over to the fire and sat down on the log she had taken a seat on for dinner. Tossing another small log onto the dying fire, she picked up the thick branch next to her and stoked the fire once more. Once the flames licked at the new wood, she put the stick back on the ground. She smeared some Neosporin onto her left palm, then wrapped it up with the gauze. She then huddled into her hoodie. Staring into the flames, she thought back on her brief conversation with Daryl. She liked it. He didn't say he was sorry that she lost her parents...she hated when people said that. How can you be sorry for something you didn't do? She liked how he didn't ask questions, didn't force her to 'talk about it'.

She glanced over her shoulder towards his tent.

Yeah, Daryl was starting to grow on her...his lacking social skills and everything.

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><p><em><strong>AN: **I'm not too sure I like how the first part came out...it was being a bitch and not wanting to be written the way I had imagined (from the beginning up until Dale's joke). Please leave a review and let me know I didn't screw it up too badly._

_And honestly, who figured out that her last name was Jenner? I'm actually really curious about this...I did give you a hint in the last chapter (sort of) by saying her nickname was her initials.  
><em>

_It kinda feels like the producers are trying to pair up Carol and Daryl on the show...obviously, I will NOT be taking the route. Just an FYI.  
><em>


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: **_A few weeks ago, I went to a Star Trek convention to see Sir Patrick Stewart...I came home with some Walking Dead artwork. A picture of Daryl (the typical one with the crossbow casually resting on his shoulder) and a page of script printed over it. I thought it was pretty neat._

_This past weekend I went to a comic-con. You know who was there? Norman freakin' Reedus! I didn't get to meet him this time (sad face), but I got to see him in person and take a picture before I was told there was 'no photography in this area' and that was good enough...for now. (He was wearing sunglasses, so I couldn't see his eyes, which also made me a little sad.) As I was standing there staring at him...I mean getting a good look at him...the ideas started coming to me. So I wrote this chapter pretty damn quick._

_Oh, and this time, I came home with a signed Boondock Saints picture of Norman Reedus and Sean Patrick Flannery. :-D  
><em>

_Enjoy the chapter!_

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><p>Half the night went by before Jada had to empty her bladder of the liquor and water she had consumed earlier. Standing from her seat at the low fire, she made sure her SIG was readily available before trekking into the trees behind her tent. Her eyes were in constant movement, making sure she was safe and making sure there were no prying eyes from the campground. After finding a suitable tree to squat behind, she took her SIG out of her pants and rested it on the ground next to her before doing her business. When she was finished, she picked the gun back up and headed silently back to the campsite; her eyes still looking everywhere. She groaned mentally as she walked. <em>Ugh. I'm just gonna be back out here in an hour. Fucking 'broke the seal'. Idiot.<em> She chastised herself. _Just don't think about it...or drink anything. At least until someone else wakes up to be look out._

As she approached the tree line, she stuck her weapon back into her pants and looked at the fire. No one was there. Sighing, she retook her seat on the log and stoked the flames a bit, just for something to do. She was done thinking. Done wondering anything about her parents' last moments. Done feeling sad.

With a huff, she set the thick branch on the ground next to her log. Rubbing her hands together to warm them, she remembered what she just got done doing. She looked at her hands before making a face and standing again to go to her tent.

In the tent, she dug through the small front pocket of her rucksack (not needing the small flashlight in her pocket since she knew her bag so well) and pulled out a relatively small bottle of hand sanitizer. One of the two she had left and it was half empty. Sighing, she squeezed a small amount onto her palm and stuffed the bottle back into the pocket before rubbing her hands together to 'clean' them.

When her hands were dry, Jada looked around her tent for something to entertain herself (and her mind) with until someone else awoke to keep her company. She glanced back at her rucksack, remembering the one personal item she remembered to grab before high-tailing it out of her barracks at Fort Gordon. Kneeling on the floor of the tent, she unzipped the biggest pocket and dug to the bottom, where she knew it would be safe. Grabbing the rectangular paperback, she pulled it out and grinned softly. Running her fingers reverently over the cover, she turned and exited her tent to return to the fire. Once she sat down again, she held the book in both hands and stared at the cover, recalling the day her parents gave her the book: the day she started her senior year of high school. They hoped that it would influence her into following in their scientific researching footsteps. However, her mind had already been set on going into the culinary arts and then the military. She humored them, though, and read it...and liked it. Liked it enough that the book never left her side all through college, military school, and her current life. She had lost count of the number of times she had read it and she didn't care.

Opening the book to where she left off, a little less than halfway through, she took the little fortune cookie fortune cum bookmark out of the page and tucked it further along the pages.

Not even five pages into the chapter, Jada heard a rustling from her right, around T-Dog's tent. Quickly digging out her bookmark, she shoved it in between the pages she was currently on and shut the book, setting it down on the log next to her. She swung her eyes towards the noise as she reached for her SIG, not pulling it out, but keeping her hand on it. The zipper on the tent went up slowly, then the flap opened and T-Dog himself stepped out.

Jada relaxed and took her hand away from the SIG, bringing said hand back to her side to pick up her book. She kept her eyes on T-Dog, who was still looking half asleep. When he looked towards the fire, he saw that she was still sitting there and stepped back, startled.

"Whoa." He mumbled. "Wasn't expecting to see you there."

Jada grinned. "Wasn't expecting anybody to be waking up yet." She replied.

"Yeah." He cleared his throat, trying to rid it of the grogginess, "Need to...uh..." He nodded towards the woods behind his tent.

"Ah." Jada nodded, smirking. "Been there. Done that."

"Right. I'll just..." T-Dog let his sentence hang before he walked around the back of his tent and into the woods.

Bringing her gaze back towards the fire, Jada shook her head, still grinning. _Never met a man who never had a problem saying 'I have to pee' before._ She thought with a snigger. _Then again, military men are a bit more vulgar._

Just before she decided to open her book again, T-Dog returned and joined her at the fire pit, sitting near her, but not directly next to her. He nodded towards the book in her hands.

"Whatchya readin'?" He asked.

Jada looked down at the book, a small smile playing on her lips again. "Charles Darwin's _On the Origin of Species_." She replied. "I never leave home without it."

"I thought you military people only read books on how to clean and assemble weapons." He joked.

"I don't happen to fall under the stereotypical category." Jada said, setting the book back on the log, not needing it for entertainment now. "But a lot of my peers do...did." She paused a moment before continuing. "When your parents are more interested in microscopes than sniper scopes, you get presents trying to lure you away from your comfort zone." She grinned sadly.

T-Dog gave her a pitying look. A look she didn't want to see, knowing what came next and not wanting to hear it.

"Sorry about them." He finally said it. "Your parents, that is."

Jada sighed. _And there it is...damn. And here I thought Daryl would be the only subtle one._

"Thanks...I guess." She mumbled, frowning.

T-Dog mistook her frown of annoyance as a frown of sadness. "Ya know what? Forget I said anything. Didn't mean ta bring it up."

"Yeah, sure. No problem." Jada replied, half-heartedly.

They were silent for a while. T-Dog was thinking of what to say to change the subject and Jada was thinking the same thing. Only thinking faster.

"So." She drawled the word out. "T-Dog can't be your given name." She started, leaving the question unsaid, hoping he'd get the hint.

T-Dog chuckled. "Nah it ain't."

Neither of them said anything for several long seconds.

"So what's your real name?" Jada finally gave in.

T-Dog grinned and waited before answering, stretching the anticipation. "Theodore Douglas." He simply said. "But if ya go 'round calling me 'Theodore', I'm gonna kick yer ass."

Jada laughed softly and held up her hands in a mock defense gesture. "Okay. Okay. No worries...I'll only do it if you piss me off."

T-Dog stared at her for a moment, then shrugged. "Deal."

Their conversation turned to lighter topics as the night wore on. Mild, brief pauses were the only interruptions as they jumped from topic to topic.

During one of their pauses, Jada listened and looked around. She could hear the birds starting to wake up, chirping from their nests. The sky was starting to lighten in the east, signaling the sun was starting to rise. She turned back to T-Dog.

"I've kept you up half the night. Maybe you can still get a few hours of sleep." She suggested.

"What? Ya tired-ah me already?" He grinned. "Girl, yer new here. And definitely a more fun woman ta talk ta than two mommas and an over-confident bitch."

Jada laughed, glad someone else had Andrea on their shit list. "Yeah, she's not one-ah my favorites, either."

As her laughter died down, the two of them heard shuffling and rustling from Daryl's tent. Jada reached for her SIG again, but she forewent it when they heard a few muted grunts and curses from inside, making them both stifle chuckles. They stopped when the zipper quickly rose and the redneck stepped out; he was in the process of zipping up his pants and buckling his belt. He didn't look up until he was done.

Jada's eyes automatically (and of their own accord) had wandered to Daryl's exposed torso. He didn't button up the sleeveless flannel shirt before stepping out. For a few moments, her mind conjured up the image her hands running up and down his chest...and dirtier illustrations. Once his chest disappeared behind the shirt as he buttoned it up, Jada's moment of horny school girl was over and she looked away quickly, blushing, before she was caught by the man she had been staring at. As she turned her head, her eyes were drawn to T-Dog to see if he was watching her. Unfortunately, he was...and he was grinning like a fool, trying very hard not to laugh. Jada glared before rolling her eyes and looking back towards Daryl.

By then, he noticed that there were others awake. Jada watched him as he paused, looking between her and T-Dog. When he looked back at her, it was in the eye. He then nodded once and walked around towards the back of his tent and into the trees.

When Jada looked back at T-Dog, she glared and pointed at him.

"Don't you dare say a fuckin' word." She warned.

T-Dog held up his hands as she did earlier in a defensive gesture. "Hey, girl, I wasn't gonna say a damn thing." His honesty was questionable because of the hardly suppressed grin.

"Whatever." Jada mumbled, rolling her eyes again.

They were silent again and Jada absentmindedly picked up her book as she stared into the slowly dying fire. She flipped from cover to cover, just to have something to do with her hands.

_God, I did it again._ She thought._ Look at all the thoughts of sex you put into my head, conscious...thanks again for reminding me it's been a while._ She mentally sighed.

When she brought herself out of her mental, one-sided conversation, she noticed T-Dog raising an eyebrow at her.

"Sorry, my mind wandered." She apologized.

T-Dog smirked. "Did it involve you and the redneck?"

"Fuck you." She mumbled. "And no."

_Not really._ She added silently.

Daryl came back to the campsite after another minute and returned to his tent. When he came back out he carried his crossbow. To Jada, it looked like he was debating if he wanted to join them at the fire pit or not and debated herself if she wanted to invite him over. He stalled by bending down to retie his boots. Jada, out of the corner of her eye, saw T-Dog stand.

"I'm gonna try to get some more sleep." He said to her with a smirk.

Before he turned to his tent, she flipped him off with a glare. He chuckled, then walked back into his tent, zipping it closed.

Jada didn't believe for one second that he was going to sleep. He was probably trying to watch them out of some hole in the side of the tent. She brought her attention back to the fire when she caught Daryl sitting on a log to her left. She gave him a small grin.

"Morning." She said softly.

Daryl nodded and rested his crossbow across his lap. He held his hands out towards the fire to warm them.

"You're up early." She said, trying to make conversation...as awkward as it was.

"So're you." He quipped.

"Never went to sleep." She responded immediately. "Wouldn't have been able to."

Daryl grunted then rubbed his hands together. Hands that Jada imagined on her body.

_Son of a bitch! Stop it!_

"Didja finish the bottle?" Daryl asked.

"Huh?" Jada asked intelligently, bringing her mind back to reality. She blushed and hoped he didn't see it.

"The SoCo." He repeated, a little irritated. "Didja finish the bottle?"

"Oh, yeah. I did." She muttered. "Thanks again, for that."

Again, he nodded.

They sat in a tense silence for several minutes. The sky continued to lighten as they sat there and Jada found herself looking towards the sun. She closed her eyes for a moment and listened. The birds were chirping louder now and more joined in all through the woods. The shifting of the man to her left had her opening her eyes and returning her attention to him. She watched him stand up and sling the Horton crossbow onto his right shoulder. Not saying a word, he turned and stepped over the log, then started walking away. Jada stood up.

"Where're ya goin'?" She asked him.

"Huntin'." He said simply. "That a'right with ya?"

"As long as ya bring something edible back, yeah." She responded with a smile.

"Ah was gonna look for deer, but if ya want more squirrel, it shouldn't be hard ta find." He quipped back, one corner of his mouth turning up slightly in a smirk.

Jada was stunned for a moment. "Did…Did you just make a joke?" She asked with a laugh.

"Yer laughin', ain't ya?" The corner of his mouth lifted a bit higher.

"Touché." She grinned. "Go track some deer. I haven't had venison for a long time." She said with a shooing motion.

Daryl scoffed and turned to go hunting in the surrounding woods.

"Happy hunting." She called after him quietly.

He stopped, turned back to face her and gave her a relaxed salute. He then turned back towards the woods and walked on, disappearing into the trees.

Jada watched him go, not realizing her eyes lowered to watch his ass. With a shake of her head, she turned back to the fire and retook her seat. She picked up her book again and opened to the marked page. She glanced towards T-Dog's tent, wondering if he was going to rejoin and tease her now that Daryl left. She waited several seconds before returning her attention to her book and continuing to read where she left off.

A few hours later, the camp started to wake up, everyone slowly emerging from their tents. There were mumbled good mornings as they took seats around the fire pit. Glenn, groggily taking a seat next to Jada, suggested that she make breakfast.

"Since you're a chef and all." Was his reasoning.

Jada didn't argue.

Dale and Carol rummaged around in the RV gathering food and cooking supplies, then brought them out to Jada, who was adding more wood to the fire to make more flames. Shane and Rick had brought her some wood, then went out to find more.

When Dale and Carol finally emerged from the RV, they brought two pots: one for boiling water and another to cook oatmeal in.

"It was the best we could find for now." Carol said apologetically.

"It's fine." Jada said. "Mind if I take a look to see what ya got in there?" She pointed to the RV. "I might be able to add some flavor to it."

"Be my guest." Dale said.

Jada nodded then made her way to the RV and took a look around. After a few minutes of shuffling through cabinets and drawers, she was able to find some honey and raisins. _Good enough._ She thought and made her way back to the fire.

Jada cooked the oatmeal and added the honey and raisins when it was done.

"Breakfast is served." She announced.

Somehow she ended up dishing out her 'meal' to everyone. When they all had a bowl, she served herself and dug in along with everyone else. She heard a hum from her right, where Lori placed herself again.

"This is probably the best oatmeal I've had in a while." The woman complimented.

Jada forced a smile. "Glad you like it."

"Not better than those powered eggs an' bacon we had at the CDC." Shane argued.

At the mention of her parents' former place of work, Jada sighed and set her spoon in her bowl.

"Oh. Sorry." Shane said, not sounding very sorry at all.

Jada shrugged and continued to eat her oatmeal...in slower and smaller bites.

No one spoke again for minutes while they continued to eat. The only sound being spoons clanking against bowls. Dale finally spoke up.

"Anyone know what Daryl's up to?"

Jada paused a moment, looking in T-Dog's direction before answering. She saw his smirk and knew he heard the conversation she and the hunter had earlier.

"Hunting." She replied quietly. "Said he wanted to go find some deer."

"Typical Daryl." Carol mumbled.

"Yeah. Daryl Dixon: hunter of all things that scurry." Glenn said, scoffing a laugh at his own wit.

Jada froze. Her spoon fell from her loose fingers, striking a stone as it hit the ground at her feet. This caused Rick to glance at her with slight worry, seeing the color drain from her face.

"JJ?" He asked softly, as if speaking to a spooked animal. "Ya alright?"

"Did you say Dixon?" She asked, looking at Dale and ignoring Rick.

"Yeah." Dale said confused, looked around to see if anyone else was as confused as he was. "Why?"

_Oh. Fuck._

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><p><strong>AN:** _Dun dun dun! Ha! Don't think I've pulled off a cliffhanger this good before. Any ideas what's gonna come about? Come on, I wanna hear 'em._

_I may have taken the 'microscopes and sniper scopes' bit from 'Doom' and twisted it a little, so that credit doesn't belong to me...FYI.  
><em>

_I kinda feel like this chapter was rushed a bit...yeah? But I was so excited to write this and get it posted for you guys that it kinda worked. (Maybe?)  
><em>

_Well, please drop me a review and let me know what you think!  
><em>


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: **_Wow, a weekend long marathon of seasons 1 and 2 of the Walking Dead on AMC certainly stirred up the plot bunnies...and caused excessive Daryl drooling (a friend and I were talking and I called him a 'badass sex god'. LOL.)_

_I came to the decision that I want to start adding lines from Eminem's "Won't Back Down" (from which I got the title of this fict) at the beginning of the chapters that fit with what's happening...more as a challenge for me, but it could be fun, too.  
><em>

_Anywho...Enjoy!_

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><p><em>"...Shootin' from the hip, yeah boy, shoot to kill..."<em>

Jada slowly reached down and picked up her spoon from the ground, thinking quickly of some lie to placate the group.

Her fingers were almost touching the spoon and she had yet to come up with anything.

_Come on, J, think!_

She slowly wrapped her fingers around the spoon, scraping her index finger along the small stone it bounced off of. Still, she thought of nothing.

_Shit...okay, maybe a half truth then._

"I, uh...I ran into a small group of others a few days ago. They mentioned the name in passing. I wasn't really tuned into their conversation. I was more worried about...their guns." She eventually said, finally bringing the spoon back up.

"You ran into other survivors?" Dale asked.

Of all the questions she was expecting to hear, that was on the very bottom of Jada's list.

"Uh, yeah." She said softly. "Though they were more like looters than survivalists."

"We've had a run in with people like that, too." Said Rick.

Jada nodded. "Unfortunately, the end of the world meant the end of all manners, conscious, humanity, and law." She paused before looking around at the people gathered. "Well, maybe not _all_." She forced a small smile.

Some of the group member smiled back. Others resumed eating. Since her spoon fell in the dirt, Jada was finished eating.

She stared down into her mostly eaten bowl of oatmeal. She had to talk to Daryl; find out if they were related or if it was just coincidence that they had the same last name. She needed to find out how long he was normally out hunting...but she wanted to keep quiet about it. She needed to confront someone while they were on their own.

Jada's opportunity came when Glenn offered to wash the breakfast dishes down at the creek.

"I'll help you." Jada said, rising from her seat as well. "You can't carry it all yourself, anyway."

Glenn nodded, thankful for the help.

The two collected the dishes, silverware, and pots, then took the path down to the creek. They found a spot downstream where there was a break in the shrubbery big enough for them to sit on the edge and spread the dishes out in between them. Glenn crouched along the edge and set his pile down next to him. After Jada sat her pile down, she sat on the shore and took off her flannel shirt, then started untying her boots.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Glenn glance at her.

"What're you doing?" He asked.

Jada pulled off her right boot with a relieved sigh and sat it next to her.

"I haven't taken off my boots for days, buddy." A smile was starting to form on her lips. "And that water sure looks good enough to cool my feet."

"How do you know there's nothing...crawling in there?"

"I washed my hands in it last night." She lifted her hands to inspect them. "Seems okay."

She went back to taking off her sock then the left boot and sock. She stuffed the socks into the boots and stood up. She rolled her cargo legs up (with some difficulty over the pockets) to just above her knees, then she walked to the edge and looked into the water; it was clear and shallow. Mentally, she found her path to the middle of the water via stones, then nodded once to herself and stepped in.

"Ooh, that feels good." She sighed, closing her eyes and wiggling her toes in the water.

Opening her eyes, she looked down and carefully stepped further into the creek. When she heard the clanking of the dirty cooking supplies, she turned back to Glenn. He was starting to scrub the dishes with a rag carol had given him.

"Wanna join me?" she asked slyly, raising her eyebrows.

She watched Glenn's cheeks turn pink.

"Uh...I-I, uh..." He cleared his throat. "I'll pass."

Jada laughed, then nodded. She walked back over to the shore and picked up the biggest pot and another rag. The two cleaned in silence for several minutes.

When Jada's last dish was washed, she returned to the middle of the creek. She looked at the water as it rushed past her ankles.

"You think there's any fish in there?" She heard Glenn ask from the edge.

She shook her head. "Nah. Too shallow." She glanced up and down the creek. "Maybe if it got deeper somewhere along the way, there might be some." Looking back to Glenn she saw him nod. Placing her hands on her hips, she looked back down at her feet. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." Glenn replied stacking up the dishes and placing the silverware on top.

She was quiet for a moment, studying the young Asian. "How long does Daryl normally take on his hunting expeditions?"

Glenn snorted a laugh. "Why? You miss the loner?" He joked.

Jada let out a low growl and rolled her eyes. "Nah, kid, I need to ask him a few things."

His smile disappeared. "This have anything to do with his last name?"

Jada only glanced at him.

"Did you get looted by another Dixon?" His eyes widened.

She glared. "I'd rather _not_ discuss this with you." She said through gritted teeth.

Glenn kept his mouth closed, but she could tell he wanted to say something else. She sighed. "You'll find out eventually, but I really have to talk to him first."

"Okay." He agreed, then paused as he wrung out the rags. "He, uh, can be gone for days, but there's a chance he might come back by dinner. Depends on what he finds."

Jada nodded and started walking back towards the edge. "I'd appreciate if ya kept this to yourself for now."

"Yeah, sure. No problem." Glenn immediately replied.

"Good. Let's get this back to camp." She picked up her boots in one hand, then the big pot with her other. Glenn grabbed the rest.

When they got back to the campsite, Carol came up to Jada and took the pot from her. With a 'thank you', Jada sat on the nearest log, setting her boots next to her. She unrolled her pant legs, then lifted her left foot and set it across her right knee. She wiped the dirt off of the bottom of her foot, then took one of her socks and put it back on before putting her foot back into her boot and lacing it up. After repeating the process to her right foot, she glanced around the campsite. Everyone seemed to have found some sort of niche in the group.

Everyone but her.

The best she could do at that moment was sit and watch what everyone else was doing while she waited for a meal time to roll around.

Sighing, she got up from the log and went to her tent. Inside, she tossed her flannel onto the small pillow before she picked up her book that she tossed in before making breakfast and flopped down onto her sleeping bag. She opened her book to her bookmark and started reading.

No one came to get her for lunch...to either make or eat, so she just went without it. She wasn't hungry anyway. Occasionally, she would dig through her rucksack to find the bag of Jolly Ranchers she managed to salvage from an abandoned mini-mart the day before she met the group and pop one in her mouth to satisfy her hunger and keep her mouth hydrated.

A few hours after lunch (and almost finishing her book), Jada heard someone approach her tent.

"Knock, knock." Came a tentative female voice.

Not being all that familiar with the people around her yet, Jada couldn't tell which woman was outside. Placing the bookmark back into her book, she set it on top of her rucksack and got up. Opening the flap, she saw Lori standing out there, clasping her hands in front of her.

"Hey, Lori." Jada greeted, stepping out of the tent. "What's up?"

"Carol and I are headin' down ta the creek ta wash come clothes. Ya need anythin' washed?" Lori asked.

Jada didn't want to owe these people anymore than she probably already did, saving her ass out on I-75 and taking her in. "Oh, uh, I can come along. Do my own laundry." She attempted to smile. "Glenn and I found a good spot for washing that I can show ya to."

"Okay. Get what ya need to wash. We have soap, so don't worry about that. We'll meet you at the fire pit in a few minutes." Lori explained.

Jada nodded and Lori nodded in return before turning and heading to her own tent to gather her family's dirty clothes.

Turning, Jada went back into her own tent. She picked her book up off her rucksack and placed it on her sleeping bag, near the top. She then picked up her rucksack and slung it over her right shoulder. The only thing that didn't need to be washed was one of her tank tops and a pair of gym shorts. Exiting the tent again, she made her way over to the fire pit to wait for Lori and Carol. She wasn't waiting long when both women exited their tents simultaneously. They both carried laundry baskets of clothes and their children trailed after them. When they made it to the fire pit, Jada gave them a tight smile.

"Okay, show us the way." Lori said.

Jada nodded and started walking towards the path. At the tree line, Carl jogged up to walk at her side. She grinned down at him.

_Seems I have a mini-me, now_.

Once the path led them to the clearing, Carl fell into step behind her, literally stepping where she stepped. Rolling her eyes playfully at him, she continued to lead them a few yards further downstream to where she and Glenn washed the dishes earlier. When they got there, she set her rucksack down a few feet from the edge of the water.

"You were right. This is a good spot." Carol praised.

Jada smiled as she knelt down next to her rucksack and unzipped it. She pulled out all of her clothes minus the 'cleaner' tank top and shorts. When she looked up, Lori was offering her a laundry basket. She took it with a nod; she'd throw her washed clothes into it. When Lori turned away, Jada took her SIG out of the back of her pants and set it inside her rucksack, under the shorts.

The women moved to the water's edge while Sophia and Carl played in the dirt behind them.

Before starting to wash, Jada took her boots and socks off again, then rolled up her cargo legs. Sitting on the bank, she dipped her feet into the water again, then started to wash her clothes. Lori handed her a bar of soap and she went to town on scrubbing stains out of her pants and shirts. She had a rough time trying to get the blood out of a pair of her pants...the ones she got stabbed in. She growled low in her throat and scrubbed harder.

"You're gonna scrub a hole in those pants if you don't let up."

Jada's head snapped up to look at Carol. She let out a sigh as she lowered the soap and garment.

_There's already a hole, but...semantics._

"Then how do you get blood stains out of clothes...one's that have been setting for a few days?" Not being a home-body, Jada didn't know how to do these kinds of things.

"Give 'em here." Lori held her hand out and Jada handed the pants over.

While Lori worked on her pants, Jada picked up another garment and continued to clean her non-bloodied clothes. When she finished, she tossed all of her clean, wet clothes into the laundry basket. She'd let them dry somewhere near her tent later. Noticing that Lori and Carol were still working on their own clothes (and Jada's pants), she stood up and walked into the creek again.

"What're you doing?" She heard Carl ask as she got to the center of the creek.

"Just cooling my feet, kid." She called back.

"Can I come in?"

She looked over and saw him standing on the edge of the water, next to his mother. She glanced at Lori for her permission.

"How deep is it?" Lori asked.

Jada looked down. "Mid-shin at the deepest."

"Okay. Go on." She nodded for Carl to get into the water. "Shoes and socks off first."

Carl immediately plopped down and pulled off his shoes and socks before stepping cautiously into the water. He held his arms out like an airplane to help keep his balance over the slippery rocks. He stopped a few feet away from Jada and looked down.

"Are there any fish in here?" He asked.

"Glenn asked me that earlier. Nah, it's too shallow for fish. The only ones that could possibly be here would be minnows...not good for eating." Jada replied, looking down as well. "There might be some crayfish or salamanders, though."

The boy's eyes lit up at the mention of the squishy, slimy amphibians. "So how do we find 'em?"

The two then spent some time turning over rocks and trying to find critters in the water. By the time Lori and Carol had finished all of the laundry (including getting the blood mostly out of Jada's pants), the two hadn't found anything.

"I thought you said we'd find some." Carl almost whined.

"I said there _might_ be some." She turned over another rock to find nothing. "They might be in another section of the creek...or there might not be anything in here at all."

Jada grinned, then leaned down, making it look like she was going to turn over another rock, but scooped up a handful of water and tossed it at Carl. The boy sputtered and just about sass-talked to her, but decided to retaliate. He leaned down and used both hands to splash Jada with water. This led to and all out water war between the two.

When both of them were mostly soaked and laughing, they called a truce. Lori called them back to the shore so they could all return to camp. Before Jada took three steps, her foot slid off a rock and she tumbled into the shallow water with a yelp. When she hit the water, the back of her left shoulder hit one of the larger rocks. Sitting up in the water, she rubbed her shoulder, chuckling.

"Well, that was graceful." Jada said starting to pick herself up.

Carl walked over to her and offered his small hand. Jada took it, but didn't let him take all of her weight. When she was standing, she slung her arm over his shoulders. Closer to the edge, Jada lifted her hands to his wet hair and tried to give him a Mohawk. It kind of worked; most of his hair fell flat before long, though. Only the front part stayed up...he looked more like a reverse Alfalfa from _The Little Rascals_ than the punk rocker she was going for. She shrugged with a grin.

Back on dry land, the women collected their baskets, Jada's rucksack, and the shoes and headed back to camp. At camp, Carl took Jada's hand and tugged to get her attention.

"JJ? Can we go looking for salamanders tomorrow?" He asked.

"Only if your mom says its okay, kid."

Carl smiled and ran back to his family's tent.

Lori tossed Jada's pants at her as she turned to head to her own tent to figure out some way to dry her clothes...and change out of her wet ones.

In her tent, Jada set the basket down to change her clothes. She'd have to wear the tank top and shorts for now. Shimmying out of her cargos with some difficulty, she was finally able to get them off. Keeping her panties on (since they were clean now and probably drier than her recently washed ones), she stepped into the shorts and pulled them up. She then grabbed the edge of her shirt and lifted it over her head. She decided to keep her bra on as well, as much as she hated the thing. It was under wire, while she was used to sports bras. It was silk and lace, while she was used to plain and boring. It was black...well, she was used to black. It was the only clean bra she had so it was what she wore. Sighing, she slid the tank top over her head and smoothed it out.

Going to the laundry basket, Jada picked out the wet clothes and hung them from the horizontal poles of the tent. Then, not knowing what to do with herself again, she picked up her book and laid down on her sleeping bag to continue reading.

Around dusk, there was a commotion from outside. Grabbing her SIG and sticking it in the back of her shorts, she walked out of her tent to see what was happening. Looking towards the fire pit, she saw a deer carcass resting on her log. To the right of the deer was Daryl, preparing to cut into the meat. She walked towards him, noticing that the others were scattered in other places, giving them enough space to not have their conversation overheard.

"What? Couldn't find squirrel?" She joked.

"Plenty. Over there." He pointed behind her with his hunting knife towards his tent.

Furrowing her brow, she turned and glanced to where he was pointing. There, outside of his tent she saw a string of squirrels hanging from the support poles.

"Wow." She mumbled, then turned back to the hunter, looking over the deer. "How many arrows did it take you to take this thing down?" She asked.

"One. Shoot ta kill or yer prey gets away."

"Please tell me you didn't mean to rhyme."

"Nah, jus' came out tha' way."

Jada nodded and they were silent as Daryl started to cut into the doe. She watched the hunter at work, trying to learn from him. After a few minutes, Daryl glanced up at her, pausing in his skinning.

"Since when is black and lacey part-ah the uniform?" He asked, smirking.

Jada froze, her jaw going slack. _How the fuck did he see me? Was he spying?_ For some reason, she wasn't as offended with it as she probably should have been, which confused her.

"How the fuck-?" She started to ask quietly.

Daryl continued to smirk. "Ya know there's a mesh winda at the back-ah yer tent, righ'?"

Yes, she did know. Just wasn't expecting anyone to be watching. For some reason, she found this part of their conversation to be hilarious and almost started laughing.

"Wow. Pervert." She said, trying to keep a straight face and failing. "Enjoy the show?"

Daryl went back to skinning the doe. "Yeah. Would-na mind anotha private show sometime." He said, making Jada flush to the tips of her ears.

"Uh..."Jada muttered.

"How'd ya bruise yer shoulder?" He asked, changing the subject...possibly sensing her embarrassment.

"Oh, Carl and I were looking for crayfish in the creek when I slipped on a rock, banging my shoulder on another." She replied.

He nodded as he continued his work. Jada kept watching as the blush slowly left her face and ears.

"Oh." Jada said, then squatted down to be more level with Daryl, even though he was higher up than her now. "Can we talk after dinner? I need to ask you a few things...about what I told you last night by the creek."

Daryl stopped and squinted at her. He seemed to be trying to figure out what she wanted to talk about. He nodded once and looked away. "Behind ma tent. Half hour afta dinner's done."

"Okay. Thank you." Jada said, then stood up. She moved to the log on the other side of the deer and continued to watch the master at work.

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><p>AN:_ More Daryl and Jada interaction in the next chapter. Don't worry! I would have included more here, but I got a little 'let's play in the creek' happy._

_Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favored, and alerted!  
><em>


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N:** _I really wanted to get this posted before the season 3 premiere, but obviously that didn't work...but the premiere did help me a little bit with this chapter: Daryl's arms. That is all. :-P  
><em>

_But, hey, I finally got a new job, so hopefully that means more time for writing! Yay!_

_Enjoy!_

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><p><em>"...Need I remind you that I don't need the fuckin' swine flu to be a sick pig..."<em>

By the time the sun set, Daryl had finished cleaning and cutting the deer into meal-sized portions. He had left the cut meat on a plate Dale brought him earlier, then cleaned up the remains of the deer before retreating to his tent until dinner.

Carol brought over the frying pan and tongs she used to cook the squirrel from the previous night. She held the tongs out to Jada as she placed the pan over the fire.

"Since you're a real chef, you wanna cook?" The older woman asked. "You could probably whip up somethin' better than I could...with what we've got anyway."

Jada glanced from the tongs to Carol. "Sure. I'd prefer to use a spatula, though." She replied.

"Oh, right. Be right back." Carol looked down at the tongs as she pulled them back. She then turned and walked towards the RV.

When she was out of sight, Jada sighed and ran to her tent to grab a mostly dry flannel shirt. Coming back to the fire, she slid her hand up the sleeve. Kneeling closer to the fire, she reached out for the handle and slid the pan away from the direct heat of the flames, closer to her. Taking a look at the pan, she realized she was going to need something to make the meat not stick, like butter or a cooking spray/oil.

Blowing a bit of hair out of her eyes, she slowly got up from her kneeling position and headed towards the RV, hoping there was something she could use. As she reached the door, Carol was walking down the steps, a spatula in hand.

"Oh, sorry. I had to dig around to find one." She apologized.

"No problem. I was actually wondering if there was any sort of cooking spray or something like that I could use." She paused. "I noticed last night that the squirrel was sticking to the pan a bit."

"Well, we can take a look...but don't get your hopes up." Carol motioned for Jada to follow her back into the RV.

Jada and Carol searched the RV for a can of Pam or some other oil, but they came up empty.

"Damn." Jada muttered. "Oh, well...any spices?"

_Not that I expect any of that either._ She thought.

Again, they searched, but only found some clumped, dried, and out of date garlic powder.

Jada groaned. "I want ma kitchen back." She pouted.

Carol scoffed. "You an' me both." She said still looking through a cabinet.

"Okay. Well. I'll see what I can do with nothing, then." Jada said.

She picked up the spatula that Carol set on the counter before they started their search and headed back out to the fire pit. Sitting on the log closest to the heating pan, she held her hand several inches over the top of said pan to make sure it was hot enough. Satisfied, she turned her attention to the pieces of meat. Picking one up, she examined it and mentally applauded Daryl for such fine cuts. Grinning, she placed three cuts into the pan before looking over her shoulder towards the hunter's tent.

_Social outcast he may be, but damn...imagine all the fun he could be in the kitchen._ Her grin dropped into a frown. _Fuck! Stop thinking like that!_ She scolded herself.

Whipping her head back to the pan, she focused on trying to keep the meat from not sticking. Picking up the spatula, she wiggled the cuts around in the pan. It seemed to work for the moment, so she kept her attention there, refusing to think dirty thoughts about the resident redneck.

Once the smell of the cooking deer meat started to hit the noses of the campground, the members of the group slowly started to emerge for dinner. Carol brought the plates from the RV and held them, ready to hand out to the others once they were loaded with meat. When the last plate was filled with food, Jada slid her hand up her sleeve to grab the hot pan and remove it from the fire, setting it on a cooler rock nearby.

The last to arrive for food was Daryl, naturally. He took a filled plate from the log Jada was sitting on and retreated to his dark corner on the other side of the fire.

Jada glanced at him before glancing at everyone around the fire to make sure they all had a plate before digging into her own food. This reverted her back to her first few months in the Army, when her first CO told her that his chefs were not allowed to eat until everyone in the mess hall had food on their plates.

"Hey, this is good." Carl said around a mouthful of deer meat.

"Never had deer meat before, kid?" Jada asked, turning her head towards him, sitting next to his mother on the next log.

"If I have, it definitely wasn't this good."

Jada grinned and took another subtle glance over at Daryl.

"I didn't do much. Just cooked it. Thank Daryl for the prime cuts." She said so only Carl (and maybe Lori) could hear and nodded towards the hunter.

Carl looked towards Daryl and saluted him with his fork. Daryl gave a swift nod in acknowledgement. He then shifted his eyes towards Jada and glared slightly at her. She smirked devilishly in return.

After everyone finished their dinner, plates and forks were collected and handed off to T-Dog and Andrea who took them down to the creek to give them a quick wash. Everyone else either left the fire's warmth and headed to their tents or stayed put for a while longer. Jada wrapped her arms around her middle (being chilled in her tank top and shorts even with the flannel) and leaned closer to the fire. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Daryl get up from his corner silently and head towards his tent.

_Half an hour to go._ She thought with a sigh, squeezing herself tighter.

With about ten minutes before their designated meeting time, Jada got up from her seat by the warm fire to head to her tent. She didn't know how long she was going to be chatting with Daryl away from the fire, so she wanted to change into warmer clothes...she just hoped they were dry.

In her tent, Jada immediately felt the clothes hanging from the horizontal poles. She let out a relieved sigh when she found that her last good hoodie and at least one pair of cargos were dry enough to currently wear. Taking off her flannel shirt, she slipped the hoodie on and wiggled around in it to help warm it up faster, then sat down on her sleeping bag to take her boots off. She then pulled her cargos on over her shorts and put her boots back on.

By the time she had retied her boots, she figured it had been about ten minutes and it was time to meet up with Daryl. Before she even thought about leaving the tent, though, she made sure her SIG was tucked into the waistband of her cargos.

Shaking her hands down at her side, she gathered up her courage and silently stepped out of her tent. She stood just outside of the opening and surveyed the area, making sure no one was looking her way. Seeing that the coast was clear, she slowly made her way to the back of her tent, where she took another look around before heading towards Daryl's tent, one hand on her SIG.

She got to the back of his tent, but didn't see the hunter. Crouching slightly, she kept her eyes moving, always on the look-out, but mostly looking for Daryl. Hearing a noise to her right, further into the trees, she spun in that direction and tightened her grip on her gun. Jada could see the silhouette of a person coming her way. Whether it was Daryl or a walker, she couldn't tell from that distance in the dark, even with the help of the moon. As the figure walked around a tree, she could see the tell-tale sign of a crossbow over the left shoulder. Now knowing it was Daryl, she relaxed her stance and released the SIG.

"Shit, Daryl." She whispered harshly when he was close enough. "Don't sneak around."

"Don't be so damn jumpy." He retorted in the same stage whisper. "Common. Don't got all nigh'." He lifted his chin the way he came, wanting her to follow.

And she did.

He led her several yards straight back from his tent to a very small clearing; it only had about a fifteen foot radius. Both of them turned in every direction with their respective weapons to make sure they were safe from walkers and no one from camp had somehow followed them. They turned back to face one another at the same moment.

"A'ight. Whatchya want?" Daryl asked, resting his Horton back on his shoulder and leaning against the nearest tree, bringing one foot up the rest on the trunk as he folded his arms over his chest.

Jada had to tear her eyes away from him and shake her head before she started to speak, tucking her SIG back into her cargos as she did.

"Do you, uh, have any...living...relatives yet?" She asked, stuttering and not looking at him, choosing to look at the ground near his feet instead.

She saw him drop his foot back to the ground. "Maybe." He said through clenched teeth. "Why?"

Jada raised her eyes to watch his face. She saw his jaw clench and his eyes squint at her, waiting impatiently for her to answer him. She watched his reactions for a full minute before looking away and blowing out a deep breath.

"Do ya remember the story I told ya last night? 'Bout bringin' a gun to a knife fight?" She asked slowly, looking him in the eyes this time.

"Yeah. So? What's tha' got ta do—" He stopped mid-sentence, his face tensing.

Jada raised an eyebrow at him, still watching his face, though she was slightly worried.

"Merle." He eventually muttered.

"Oh, god." Jada whispered, stepping back and stumbling into the nearest tree. She turned sideways and leaned her head against the rough bark, closing her eyes as she did so. "Please tell me you are nothin' like him." She practically begged.

"What'd 'e do?" Daryl growled. "How'dya know it was 'im?"

Jada turned her back to lean against the tree and slid down the trunk to sit on the ground. "He told me his name. Said 'ya remember the name Merle Dixon, bitch, ya might scream it in the future', then grabbed his crotch." She paused as a chill ran down her spine and she clenched her fists so she wasn't tempted to punch anything. "He was the leader," here she used finger quotes around 'leader', "of the group who stole the med kit and stabbed me." She glanced up at Daryl to see him with narrowed eyes, glaring at the ground in between them and off to the left slightly. "I didn't mention him last night 'cause I only found out your last name this mornin'." Jada said softly.

Daryl remained silent, staring at the ground for several long minutes.

"Please say something." Jada whispered, her nerves on edge.

"Son. Of. A. Bitch." He said slowly. "Alive."

_Not what I was expecting, but it's a start._ She thought, still watching him.

"We got sep'rated in Atlanta. Grimes cuffed 'im to the roof. Sawed off his own hand ta get away from walkers. We came back an' 'e were gone." Daryl explained.

Jada swallowed hard. "Sawed off his hand?"

"Yeah."

"It was definitely him then." She looked back to the ground. "What's his relation to ya?"

"Brotha."

Jada groaned. "Here I was, hopin' he was an uncle or something." She muttered.

"Nah, jus' me an' Merle for most-a our lives." He said.

"Least you had someone...even if he is the biggest asshole of a pig on the face of the earth."

"Best watch yer mouth." Daryl growled, pushing himself off the tree to take a few steps closer to her.

Jada stood quickly, ready to defend herself if necessary. "Face facts, Daryl." She growled back. "He was either going through withdrawal or extremely high from the looks of it. How stupid would ya have to be to tell someone yer name? To say where ya were headin' in front of an enemy?" She sighed. "I'm sorry yer not with yer family, but it could be worse. A lot worse." She locked eyes with him and, for a moment, she let him see her own pain of knowing that her parents, her only family, was dead and she had to hear it from strangers.

Daryl, not one willing to admit defeat or apologize, nodded once in understanding, not looking away from the woman in front of him.

Once she got an understanding from the hunter, she locked her pain away, back into the recesses of her body. Jada looked away.

Both were silent again for a long time.

"Well," Jada finally said quietly, then cleared her throat, "I guess that's all I needed to tell ya." Her shoulders slumped as she started to turn away and head back to camp.

"Jay." Daryl called softly before she got too far away.

Jada stopped, a pleasing tingle ran through her body; it was the first time any form of her name fell from his lips. And she liked the sound. She turned back to the hunter, who was looking off to his left, further into the forest.

"Ah'm nothin' like ma brotha." He said so quietly Jada could barely hear him.

She grinned almost sadly at him. "Good to know." She said quietly.

Jada was just about to turn and walk back, again, when she caught movement further into the forest...in the opposite direction Daryl was staring. Her grin fell and she took quick steps towards the hunter to grab his attention.

"Wha—" He tried to ask, but Jada shushed him immediately, standing directly in front of him, leaving about six inches of space between the two. She looked into his eyes.

Bringing her hand up, Jada pointed two fingers at her own eyes, then over to where she saw something moving. Daryl didn't understand her signal right away, so she rolled her eyes and grabbed his upper left arm to turn him to where she pointed.

As they stood staring out into the trees, Jada couldn't help but feel the muscles in his arm as he unconsciously flexed. She liked what she felt.

_Stop it!_ She scolded herself with a quick shake of her head. _Now's not the time. Admire later._

Refocusing her attention on the trees and not on Daryl's arm, they both watched and listened as whatever it was came closer. In a few moments, however, they were able to distinguish the stumbling gait of a walker.

Daryl, having the silent weapon, lowered his arm down towards Jada's waist and nudged her behind him; she felt another pleasing tingling sensation run through her body at the contact. Jada was momentarily saddened by the loss of the feel of his arm under hand, but she moved so he could get his crossbow off of his shoulder. Standing behind him, she watched as he pulled the string back into place (again, she couldn't help but watch the muscles in his arms) and set an arrow...all perfectly silent. She took another step back to give him some space when he raised the crossbow up to eye level.

She watched the hunter and the hunted as Daryl waited for the perfect shot. When he released the arrow, the only sound they heard was the _squish_ as the arrow hit its target: through the skull of the approaching walker.

As he lowered the crossbow, he took a glance at Jada, then walked towards his prey. Jada followed, taking her SIG out of the waistband of her cargos as she did. She kept her eyes moving, covering both of them in case there were any more walkers around.

When they reached the now dead walker, Daryl bent down (which drew Jada's eyes to his ass) and pulled his arrow out of the skull; it made a squelching sound as it came out.

"Ya think it's just the one?" Jada whispered to him as he stood up straight again, removing her eyes from his ass.

"Dunno. Better tell th' others, though." He said as he wiped the brain matter stuck to the arrow onto his pants.

"Yeah." She agreed, distractedly, still looking around. "You go ahead. I'll catch up." Daryl gave her a look and she grinned. "How bad would it look if we walked out of the trees together? People'll start gossiping."

With a tiny grin, Daryl nodded and turned to walk back towards camp. Jada gave him a thirty second head start before starting her own trek back. As she reached the back of Daryl's tent, she crouched down and moved to the back of her own tent. She looked around and gave another thirty seconds before standing and casually walking back towards the group huddled around the fire, Daryl standing just outside of the circle, waiting to speak.

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><p><strong>AN:** _So, this chapter wasn't the greatest, was it? I don't know what happened with this one...or maybe _I_ just think it isn't up to snuff because I wrote it?_**  
><strong>

_Lemme know what you think, please.  
><em>

_Thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, favored, and alerted!  
><em>


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: **_Heh. Hiii! So sorry for taking forever in posting this. Mostly, I'm just lazy. I admit it. And my brother turned me into a Whovian, so I've been catching up on Doctor Who. And I've been reading other ficts (I'm kinda stuck on the Dark Knight Rises' Bane at the moment). But anywho, I'm already planning out the next chapter...and I need your help, readers, with how this fict will plan out (see bottom A/N for more info). So, while you ponder that, here's the next chapter._

_Enjoy!_

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><p><em>"What's the saying? Where's thunder there's lightning, and they say that it never strikes twice in same place..."<em>

"Found a walker."

The talking around the fire stopped immediately. Jada watched as everyone turned to look at Daryl. Rick slowly stood up and walked towards the resident redneck.

"What? Where?" The former deputy asked.

"Out tha' way." Daryl replied shortly, nodding his head in the general direction they just came from.

"There others?" Shane asked, standing and making his way next to Rick.

"Dunno." Daryl shrugged. "Didn't look like it."

"Right." Rick said, hands on his hips and turning to look at everyone. "Shane, Glenn, grab weapons and head towards the highway, make sure the road's clear in case we gotta leave in a hurry." He turned to Daryl. "Take T-Dog to where ya found it. Search thoroughly." He looked past Daryl to Jada, standing a few feet behind Daryl's left shoulder. "JJ, you an' me'll go that way." He pointed towards T-Dog's tent. "Dale, Andrea, stay here an' keep an eye on camp. Anything comes by ya can't handle, give a yell." Everyone nodded and went to grab whatever they were using as their weapon of choice.

Jada stood with her arms crossed under her breasts waiting for Rick to grab his weapon. She watched the others move about the camp to gather what they needed and head out with their designated partners. She watched T-Dog walk from his tent, to grab a shotgun, then walk back to where Daryl was standing in between his tent and her tent. Before the two headed off into the forest, she saw Daryl glance back to her and give her a tiny nod. Shocked and just a little confused, she gave him a small nod back. When his back was turned to her again, she frowned.

_Daryl really needs to come with a handbook. _She thought. _Why did I deserve that nod? Was it a thank you? Good luck? What? Fuck! And men think women are confusing._

She watched as Glenn and Shane marched off down the lane back towards I-75, then turned her attention towards Rick as he walked towards her with an ax. She schooled her facial features into a neutral expression as she pulled her SIG out of the back of her pants. Rick nodded to her and she followed him as they made their way into the forest behind T-Dog's tent. As they rounded the tent, Rick took the lead with his ax held at the ready; Jada followed close enough behind him that she could cover his back, but gave him enough room to swing the ax if needed.

When they were a good distance into the trees, Rick stopped and lowered the ax head to the ground as he continued to look around. Jada stepped up next to him and lowered her SIG to her side, also looking around.

"Can ah ask ya somethin'?" Rick questioned softly.

"Uh, sure." Jada replied, not looking at the man and not really sure what he was going to ask.

"Ya still plan on headin' ta Atlanta?"

Jada jerked in shock. _Wasn't expecting that._ "I haven't really given it much thought yet." She admitted softly.

_Do I _want_ to go to Atlanta now? Now that my only reasons for going there in the first place are...gone?_ She asked herself.

"Do ya have any other people ya need ta check up on?" Rick asked, now looking at the woman next to him.

Jada looked at the ground, then shook her head. "No." She whispered.

Her parents were only children and she didn't have any siblings. The only friends she had were in the Army and, well...she knew what happened to them already.

"Stay with us then." Rick said, bringing her out of her thoughts.

Jada's head snapped up. "What?"

"We can always use another gun." Rick explained, then grinned. "And yer the only one who really knows how ta cook with limited supplies. Stick with our rag-tag group'a misfits...if not ta help us, at least for ma son. He seems ta like ya well 'nough."

Jada grinned slightly. The kid did take a liking to her...and she was starting to like the kid as well.

There was also the fact that she was getting to know Daryl baby step by baby step. And that seemed to be more than she could say for most of the others in the group.

"So you're sayin' I'm only good for keepin' everybody fed?" She joked, smirking, and finally looking up at Rick.

"Nah, course not." He replied easily. "Yer just the best at it."

They both sniggered softly and looked around again. There was a pregnant pause before Jada responded.

"I just have one question before I completely give you the 'okay, I'll stick with you weirdoes'." She said, still looking around.

"Shoot."

"Are ya still headin' to Fort Benning?"

Rick was silent for several moments.

Jada decided that if he said 'yeah, we're still headed there, even though you've already told us it's overrun', then she was going on her own again the minute she found a set of working wheels. If he said no, then she just might stick with them. She hadn't completely decided if it was worth possibly getting shot in the back by two of the group who seemed to have something against her.

"Ya said it was probably overrun, right?" He finally asked.

"Yeah."

"Think there'd be any way to clear it out?"

Jada thought about it. "No. With the small amount of people in this group, and I'm assuming a dwindling ammo supply, I don't think it's possible. If we got overrun at Fort Gordon and Gillem so badly, I don't think Benning faired any better. People went to us for help. They would've gone there, too. And that equals a shit-ton more walkers than there should have been with all those extra people around." Her voice tapered off towards the end of her reasoning.

Rick nodded. "Then, no, ah don' think we'll go there any more."

Jada release a quiet sigh. "Okay...where then?"

"Not sure. Have ta bring it up with the others. See what they wanna do." He replied.

Jada nodded this time, then took a few steps forward, raising her SIG.

"What—" Rick started to ask.

"Shh." Jada held up her hand to silence him.

Staring around the trees ahead of them, she saw movement in front and to her left, about a hundred yards away. Keeping her SIG trained forward, she turned her head slowly back to Rick. Lifting her left hand, she pointed to where she saw a probable walker. Rick nodded and picked up the ax, then slowly made his way ahead of Jada and further into the woods, where he leaned against a tree in the direction they thought the walker would stumble. Jada followed and leaned her back against a tree near Rick, SIG at the ready in case back-up was needed.

They watched the walker walk right in between their trees and keep staggering on. Jada locked eyes with Rick and nodded. Rick turned his attention to the walker and followed it stealthily. When close enough, he lifted the ax and brought it down quickly on the back of the walker's skull. The walker collapsed to its knees and Rick pulled the ax out with a _squelch_, only to bury the ax deep in its skull again...then one more time for good luck.

"It's dead, Jim." Jada said, walking up to Rick and looking down at the former human.

With a grunt, Rick pulled the ax out of the skull once more. He looked up at Jada. "We better get back. See how the others made out and set up watch. We'll have ta get outta here in the mornin'."

Nodding, Jada followed Rick back to the campsite, keeping her eyes moving, looking for more walkers.

Back at the fireside, Jada and Rick met up with Glenn and Shane. They didn't find any walkers along the road out and reported that the way out was clear. The four stood at the ready and waited for Daryl and T-Dog to return. When they did, they marched straight over to the small group, in between Jada and Glenn with Daryl closer to Jada.

"What'd ya find?" Rick asked the newcomers.

"Two more." T-Dog answered. "One feastin' on the dead one. The other comin' to do the same. Dispatched 'em easily enough." He nodded towards Daryl and his crossbow.

Rick nodded. "We found one, too."

"So what do we do?" Glenn asked softly, cradling a shotgun against his chest.

"We'll stay here till mornin', then we have ta head out. Find somewhere else to settle for a while." Rick answered just as quietly.

"We ain't goin' ta Benning?" Shane asked skeptically.

Rick glanced over at Jada before answering. "Nah. If Gordon and Gillem were so overrun, ah don't see how Benning would fair any differently."

Shane scoffed. "Because some bitch we just happened to pick up tells us not ta?"

"Hey, this _bitch_ is trying to save your life. Worthless as it is." Jada growled, glaring at him. "Look, asshole. I don't like you and clearly you don't like me, which is totally cool with me, but I am trying to help you all survive for just a little longer."

As much as she wanted to stalk off, if only to not punch him in the mouth, she stood her ground.

The tension rose steadily.

"Hey. What's going on?" Dale asked as he and Andrea came over to the huddled group.

Shane looked away first, leaving Jada free to take a deep breath. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Daryl shift his weight onto the foot closest to her. When she turned her head slightly to get a clearer view of him, she saw him nod his head once. She understood the meaning of his nod this time.

_You did good._

Jada felt her lips try to tug up into a grin, but she somehow managed to suppress it..._Just so T-Dog won't tease me later_. She thought.

Turning her attention back to the rest of the group, she saw Rick motioned everyone over to the fire. They needed to tell everyone else what was going on. When everyone was seated (more or less in their "normal" space), Rick explained that Daryl had taken down a walker initially, then told about the other three that were found by others. A light gasp sounded from Carol as she held her daughter closer to her. Jada took a glance over to Lori and Carl to see the woman put her hand on her boy's shoulder; both were surprisingly calm.

"So what do we do?" Andrea spoke up, across the fire from Jada.

"We'll hafta leave in the mornin'." Rick explained. "Try ta find somewhere else to hold up fer a while."

"What about Benning?" Carol asked so quietly Jada had to strain to hear her.

Shane scoffed again. "Apparently, it's no longer an option." He glared at Jada, who childishly rolled her eyes and looked into the fire.

"Makes sense, really." Lori muttered, also sending Shane a slight glare.

"Alright." Rick said quickly before any arguments could start. "We'll have to set up watches t'night. Two person teams. T-Dog, Andrea, take first watch, please. Wake me in two hours. Everyone else, try ta get some sleep. We leave at first light and figure out where ta go later." He instructed.

With nods all around, he headed towards his family's tent. Rick turned before going in. "And keep the fire low." He then ducked into the tent for some sleep.

Jada watched as Carol and Sophia got up and headed into their own tent. Dale headed towards the RV. T-Dog and Andrea got started on their watch. Lori and Carl stayed by the fire for a little longer before getting up and heading to their tent with Rick. Jada was left by herself at the fire. She could see Daryl just on the edge of her peripheral, though, and watched as he, too, eventually got up and headed towards his tent.

The Staff Sergeant stayed by the fire for several minutes, not ready to go to sleep. Sure she was tired, since she didn't sleep the night before, but if she was honest with herself, she was afraid to go to sleep. Afraid of the nightmares that might come. Might remind her that her parents were no longer part of this fucked up world.

Eventually, she got up, no longer able to keep her eyes open after staring into the hypnotizing flames of the fire for so long. She nodded to T-Dog and Andrea, who were also around the fire after they completed a walk around, and ambled on over to her tent.

Once inside, she zipped the tent flaps closed, securing the zippers to the bottom of the tent with wire. Days earlier, she had jerry-rigged the tent so nothing could get in without a struggle; she had punched a hole in the floor of the tent with her Swiss Army knife and threaded a wire she stole out of a found underwire bra through and into the zipper, then twisted the ends like a twist tie. The only flaw (and she knew it) was that it would also be hard for her to get out in a pinch, though the tent was wide enough that she could slither underneath one of the flaps...however undignified it might look.

Once she finished with the zipper, Jada stood and was just about to flop down onto her sleeping bag when she turned to find her clothing still hanging from poles. With a groan for being denied some sleep, she reached for the closest piece of clothing and pulled it down. Meticulously, she folded the shirt and laid it on her sleeping bag. She continued pulling clothes down from around the tent and folding them. When everything was folded and sitting on her sleeping bag, in piles according to the item, she shoved them fastidiously into her duffle bag. She zipped up the bag and tossed it to the other side of the tent. Quickly, she untied and kicked off her boots and took the SIG out of her pants to rest on her rucksack.

Jada was then able to crawl into her sleeping bag and settle down for however long she was able to, whether it be from nightmares or a wake up call for look-out. She had just closed her eyes and gotten comfortable when she heard a clap of thunder off in the distance. Turning onto her stomach, she growled loudly into her pillow.

Thunderstorms meant possible leaks in the tent.

Thunderstorms meant less sleep.

Thunderstorms meant you had to be on your toes more; walkers aren't so easily heard over the sounds of rain and thunder.

Burrowing deeper into her sleeping bag and ducking her head underneath her pillow, Jada released a deep sigh, closed her eyes, and attempted to sleep.

000000000

A few short hours later, Jada awoke with a jump, sitting up in her sleeping bag; the flash of lightning, followed by the crash of thunder directly overhead, the downpour of rain, and dreaming of her past all woke her up. Leaning back on her elbows, she let her heart rate return to normal before taking a glance out of the mesh window above her. Knowing the sky would be cloudy because of the storm, she tried to get a look and decide if it was worth staying awake for the rest of the day or go back to sleep for a bit. When she looked, she couldn't see the sky, but knew "first light" was a way off yet. Releasing a puff of air, she pulled herself (and her sleeping bag) closer to her rucksack to dig in one of the middle pockets. Towards the middle of the pocket, she found what she was looking for a pulled it out. Jada looked down at the military-issued watch to check the time...not that time had any meaning in this shit-storm called life now, but it gave a good reference for sun rise and sun set.

4:30 AM. Sun rise was still a good hour and a half away.

With a grunt, she shoved the watch back into its pocket and closed it up. Falling onto her back, the Staff Sergeant stared at the ceiling.

_Why did no one come wake me for a watch?_ She thought, frowning.

She kicked off the sleeping bag and rose to her feet, stretching out as best as she could in the tent. She then rolled up her sleeping bag and pillow and shoved them back in their bag. Grabbing her SIG and waterproof poncho from her rucksack, she untied the zipper and unzipped the tent flaps. She pulled a flap back so she could watch it rain and get an idea of how waterlogged the camp ground was. Through a bolt of lightning and rumble of thunder, Jada could see that the fire was definitely out and there were puddles in some places, but it wasn't as bad as she was expecting.

Sitting down at the opening, she grabbed her boots and pushed her feet into them. As she laced and tied them up, she took another look around the campsite, trying to figure out who was on watch.

Through another flash of lightning, she saw a large beach umbrella propped open on the top of the RV. She was also able to see that someone was sitting underneath it on a crate.

And from the distinct outline of a crossbow on the shoulder, she knew it to be Daryl Dixon.

After fiddling with her boots, she unfolded the poncho and slipped in on over her head. Tucking her SIG into the back of her cargos, she put the hood up and stepped out into the storm, pausing to close up her tent so her stuff wouldn't get drenched.

Jada turned and looked up at Daryl again, who had shifted his crossbow when he saw movement, but was relaxed.

_Do I join him or walk around?_ She debated, taking a few steps forward, not in any particular direction. _Well, he is out of the rain. _She made up her mind and speed walked over to the RV.

It took her a moment to find the ladder that would lead her up to the roof, but when she did find it, she carefully (but quickly) climbed. Once on the roof, she picked her way over to Daryl, being cautious of the torrents of water running off the roof...she didn't want to slip, fall, and bust her ass. She nodded to the hunter when she was standing underneath the umbrella. He nodded in response then returned his attention back ahead of him. Jada slowly turned in a circle to look around the site for walkers and/or Daryl's watch partner. She then crouched down next to him on the opposite side of the umbrella pole.

"Who's supposed to be out here with you?" She asked over the rain as she huddled further into her poncho.

"Don't matter." He replied with a shrug.

"Sure it does. What if a horde of those fuckers came outta the trees? You wouldn't get 'em all with only a few arrows, no matter how good you are." She responded, looking over at him.

Daryl frowned briefly, then let out a puff of air in what could have been a grunt as he glared straight ahead.

"So I ask ya again...who's supposed to be out here?" She almost demanded, close to how she would speak to one of her subordinates in the kitchen.

Daryl turned his glaring frown towards her. "Don't ya try ta pull rank on me. I ain't one-a yer underlings." He paused for a moment when Jada lifted her eyebrow and tried not to smirk. "Yer supposed ta."

Jada's smirk instantly dropped and turned into a frown to rival that of Daryl's. She turned her head away from him "Why didn't anyone wake me?" She asked more to herself than the hunter.

"Ah didn't get ya 'cause ya needed to sleep." The redneck replied, not looking at her.

"'Scuse me?" Jada's head whipped back towards him.

With another flash of lightning, they could both clearly see the other's face: Jada's held a look of shock, where Daryl's was poker-face straight.

"Ya heard me." He grumbled.

_Holy shit!_ She thought, taking a long look at the man next to her. _Did I find a soft spot on the big, bad hunter?_ She grinned softly, turning her face away from him.

"Thanks then." Jada said just loud enough for him to hear.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him nod again.

Her knees were starting to hurt from her crouched position, so she moved a bit closer to where Daryl was sitting on his crate that was holding up the umbrella, and sat on another crate on the opposite side.

The two were silent for the rest of the extremely early morning hours, until the sky started to lighten. The thunderstorm was still on them, but it was starting to taper off; the thunder was getting further away with the occasional flashes of lightning. From their perches on top of the RV (under the umbrella), they watched as people started to wake up and deconstruct the camp in the rain. It was amusing to say the least.

When most of the tents were ready to be shoved back into bags and stored back into vehicles, Jada and Daryl made their way off of the roof to dismantle their own tents. It took Jada only minutes to pull all of the poles out of their spots and pull them apart, then another minute to fold the tent and roll it up into its storage bag. Picking up her duffle bag, tent, and rucksack, she took them over to the RV and stored them out of the way.

_I may be traveling with these people for a while, but the sooner I get my own set of wheels the better._ She thought with a sigh as she shoved her duffle under the small table. _Getting a bit cramped in here._

Standing up straight, she looked out of the window next to the table.

It was still raining...

Daryl had a motorcycle...

Plopping down onto the bench seat where her rucksack was stashed, she dug through the pockets looking for her extra (although, cheap) poncho. Letting out a grunt of success as she pulled the folded plastic out, she walked through the RV and down the stairs, back out into the rain, almost colliding with Andrea as the woman opened the door.

"Whoa. Sorry." Jada mumbled as she stepped down out of the RV and to the side so the other woman could pass.

With a terse nod, Andrea made her way into the RV.

Jada watched her for a moment, then with a huff, she marched over to Daryl. She stopped next to where the hunter was trying to roll up his tent.

"Hey." She called softly, not wanting to startle him, then realized he probably already knew she was there. When he looked over at her (and not stopping in his work), she continued. "I thought you could use this for when we head out." She held out the plastic poncho to him.

He took it from her, looking down at it before looking back up to her. An unspoken question clearly on his face.

"It's my extra poncho. The cheap kind, but it'll help keep ya at least semi-dry on that bike a-yours." She explained with a small smile.

Daryl tried to hand it back to her. "Don't need it." He said, gruffly.

_Men are so stubborn! _Jada glanced skyward in exasperation. "Keep it anyway. Use it when ya feel the need or want to then." She turned on her heel and stalked back towards the RV.

"JJ!' She heard from behind just as she was reaching for the door. Turning around, she saw Rick jog up to her.

"What's up?" she asked on a sigh.

"Tell whoever's in there that we leave in ten. 'F ya wanna make somethin' simple for breakfast, go fur it. 'F ya wanna wait till we stop somewhere, that's fine, too." Rick instructed.

Jada nodded. "I'll tell them, then probably wait for food."

Dale emerged from the trees and came up to the two of them. "What's the plan?" The older man asked.

"We leave in ten minutes. We'll keep goin' south on 75. See if anything'll help us out in the short run. Maybe somewhere to hold up till this rain stops." Rick explained.

Dale nodded and went into the RV to deliver the message to everyone in there. Rick glanced over at Daryl, who had finally gotten his tent in the bag, then back to Jada. He didn't say anything, but tilted his hat towards her and walked off to the station wagon. Jada frowned and followed him with her eyes.

_Seems like Daryl isn't the only one who should come with a handbook...maybe it's all men_. She pondered as she, herself, looked over at Daryl. She watched him pick up his bags, then ponder over the poncho before shoving it into the back of his muddied work pants. He glanced up, then and looked directly at Jada. Knowing she'd been caught staring (though she couldn't really help it), she ducked her head, feeling her cheeks turn slightly pink, then turned to finally head into the RV.

Jada plunked down on the bench seat next to her rucksack and across from T-Dog...who was wearing a mischievous smirk as he saw her face. She pointed to him warningly.

"Don't." she said, trying not to smile.

T-Dog held up his hands with a laugh. "I wasn't gonna say anythin' about ya gettin' all hot 'n bothered by the redneck."

She leaned across the table with a laugh to smack his arm. "Asshole." She muttered before looking out the window. "Are you trying to play matchmaker?" She asked him.

When she didn't get an answer, she looked back to him. He was trying to smile innocently, but failing miserably. Rolling her eyes, she looked back out of the window as she shucked her poncho to let it dry for a while. Jada watched as Daryl took his things to the station wagon to shove them in the trunk then talk to Rick for a minute. He then headed over to his bike, which Jada could barely see from the window. She was able to see him take the poncho out of the back of his pants and throw it on, though, and she felt relieved and accomplished because of the action.

She found herself smiling stupidly to herself.

Jada heard T-Dog chuckling to himself and sighed, the smiling not leaving her face. "I'm not even gonna admonish ya this time, 'cause it's clearly done well in the past." She said, making the man laugh harder.

A few minutes later, the RV rumbled to life and the caravan of rag-tags headed back out onto the highway, away from the campsite. The rain becoming lighter and the thunder only being heard in the far distance.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**_ Alrighty, so...did ya like it?_

_And here's where I need your help, readers._

_I saw an interview with Robert Kirkman on "The Nerdist" and he said that the show is like a "re-do" of what he wanted to do in the comic books; like a second chance to do something different. So here's my problem...it involves Sophia: do I stick to the comic book and not have her turned into a walker and the group gets to Hershel's farm the book way or do I go the TV show route and have her turn into a walker and shoved in the barn?_

_I REALLY need help with this! I've been thinking about this since I started this fict and I still don't know which way to go...I mean, I can come up with plans for both routes, but I'd like to know which way you, as my reader, would like to see._

_Send me your PMs on this subject please!_

_Oh, and one more quick note: someone left me a review saying my plot had holes...well, I'm not about to give away everything right out of the gate. It keeps you coming back for more. I have it planned, so no, there aren't plot holes, thank you very much. And, yes, I realize I'm being a bitch about this, but shit like this bothers/dents my fragile confidence..._


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N:** _*takes deep breath* Sorry_Sorry__Sorry__Sorry__Sorry__Sorry__Sorry__Sorry__Sorry__Sorry__Sorry__Sorry__Sorry__Sorry__Sorry__Sorry__Sorry__Sorry__Sorry_!_

_I seriously don't know what happened...well, I can speculate: Star Trek might have taken over my brain...and Doctor Who...and Supernatural...and general laziness.  
>BUT, I'm back with more Jada and Daryl and Walking Dead awesomeness! And this chapter is super long to make up for it (it was 12 pages in Word, written in 3 days...could have been 2 days, but I was watching TWD while writing and that lead to distractions of the sexy Daryl kind).<em>

_Mad and wicked thanks to the 3 readers who voted on Sophia's fate: PaganButterfly, RecalcitrantRach, and Emberka-2012! I'm glad you all voted the same way or I would have been in trouble. LOL._

_I'll shut up now and let you read...  
><em>

_Enjoy!_

* * *

><p><em>"Cadillac Sevilles, Coupe Devilles, brain dead rims yeah stupid wheels<em>..."

After shedding her poncho and laying it on the back of the bench seat to dry, it didn't take long for Jada to accidentally fall asleep with her head resting against the window. The rumble of the RV and gentle pattering of rain on the roof and windows lulled her into a deep sleep that she hadn't been able to get for weeks. The knowledge that she was relatively safe and had at least one person (at the moment T-Dog) willing to look out for her, made her sleep easy.

Unfortunately, her sleep was far from relaxed. Since she was in such a deep sleep, her dreams were plagued with horrors that she couldn't escape; dreams (more like nightmares) of watching her sous chef screaming, fighting, and being devoured by their CO...it played like a stuck record, over and over again.

The dream—more like memory—was about to repeat when she was awoken by a loud hissing noise and the RV slowing. Jolting upright, and smacking her bad knee on the underside of the table, she winced then looked out of the window. The sun was shining and drying up the rain puddles. They were traveling down a different highway than the one she remembered them being on.

_How long was I out?_ She thought as she rubbed a hand over her eyes and stood up to look out of the front windshield with everyone else. She stepped up next to T-Dog.

"What's goin' on?" She asked softly.

T-Dog did a quick double take before settling his eyes on her. "Somethin' happened ta the RV." He said, then paused before continuing: "Ya were out fer a while."

"How long?" She asked.

"'S only afternoon."

Jada nodded and followed the other five out of the RV to have a look. While they went to the front of the mobile home, she made her way towards the back to keep an eye on what was behind them, if anything. She nodded to Rick and the others in the station wagon as she passed them.

Standing at the back of the RV, she got a good look around them, her jaw unhinging for a moment. "It's a car graveyard." She muttered to herself. "Wonder if any of 'em run." She walked to the other side of the RV and raised a hand to shield the sun as she continued to look around. Some of these cars looked like they could have been brand new, while others looked like they belonged in a junkyard. Some looked untouched, while others looked to have already been looted.

Getting the idea to mention off-handedly that they should search the cars for anything useful, she walked back around to the side the group was on. She rounded the back and saw that Daryl and T-Dog had the same idea. Then she heard Lori.

"This is a graveyard." She said, followed by an awkward silence with the group looking at each other. "I don't know how I feel about this." She continued.

_She's right, but it ain't like they're gonna use anything anymore._ Jada thought, crossing her arms under her breasts.

T-Dog started to walk off as Shane said: "A'right, y'all. Gather what'chya can."

The group slowly dissipated to search for anything they could use. While most of them went in front of the RV and uphill, Jada turned and went back the way they came, downhill. She noticed the tractor-trailer semi dumped on its side a ways behind the station wagon. She knew that the cab would have some sort of medical kit. And who knew? If she could get the back of the semi open, maybe there would be something in there they could use.

_Like canned food_. She thought hopefully, but not very confidently.

Jada reached her hand behind her back to make sure her SIG was still firmly tucked into the back of her pants before she set off determinedly, straight for the trailer, keeping her eyes pealed for any...walkers along the way. When she reached it, she took a moment to figure out how to get into the cab. Somehow the windshield stayed in tact, so she couldn't crawl through that way, but she did sight a medium-sized medical bag on the floor under the steering wheel. She walked around to the underside of the cab to the tires. Stepping up onto the large tire on the ground, she was able to grab onto the other tire and pull herself up onto it—not without a few grunts; it'd been a while since she had to use her arm muscles to pull her body weight up to anything. After she got a leg up, she managed to roll herself up completely onto the tire. Staying flat on the door of the cab (and subconsciously noticing that the window on the door was shattered), she lifted her head slowly and looked around.

She turned her head to look back at the group. She saw Dale on top of the RV with a pair of binoculars to his eyes, looking her way. She frowned and looked next to the RV to see Rick raising his sniper-scoped rifle in her direction.

Heart thumping a mile a minute in her chest, she glared at him before realizing he was tracking something. Shifting her eyes to where the rifle pointed, she saw a walker stumble on by the side of the cab.

With a muffled gasp, she laid flat on the door. She thought about jumping down into the cab, but then she would be trapped. Not a good situation for anyone living, so she slowly turned her head to see how far it was to the trailer. Maybe she could crawl onto the side. Painstakingly slow, Jada maneuvered herself so she could get to the trailer. There was a bit of a gap between the cab and the trailer, but if she crawled correctly, she would be invisible to anyone on the sides.

Staying towards the middle of the semi, she crawled across the gap slowly, making sure not to bump or kick anything that could possibly come unhinged and fall, alerting everyone (and everything) around her that she was there. With shaking arms it took her a few seconds longer than she wanted to get across. When she pulled her feet onto the trailer, she released a sigh of relief, then wiggled around so she could keep an eye on the front of the semi, since it was lower and gave her a better view.

It was seconds later, when more walkers ambled into her sights. With wide eyes, she turned her head to look back towards the group, hoping to alert them if Dale didn't see the horde right away. Jada managed to see the back of Rick as he crouched and ran away from the approaching walkers. She saw that Dale dropped down to the roof of the RV as fast as the old man could.

_At least they're okay._ She thought, then absently wondered where Daryl and T-Dog were and if they got Rick's relayed message.

Jada carefully turned her head back to watch the horde of walkers walk passed her. She was wary enough to not look and see how many there actually were; she just hoped that they would pass relatively fast...well, as fast as walkers can move.

It felt like hours had passed before the last of the horde shuffled by the semi. Jada slowly raised her head to glance in all directions. Not seeing any behind, she looked forward to see two walkers behind the main group. Rolling to the edge of the trailer, Jada gripped the edge and swung her legs vigilantly over the side to dangle for a moment, then drop silently to the concrete. She crouched low for a moment to make sure nothing heard her, then got onto her toes and ran towards the walkers, staying bent and crouched the whole way. Along the way, she came across a piece of metal that looked like it could have been broken off of the underside of a box truck. Picking it up (knowing that to use her SIG would be a _very_ bad idea in this situation), she darted to the right of the highway, towards the guardrail.

As she passed by a two-door, Mazda coupe, she watched as one of the walkers kneeled to the ground and look under a car. Jada saw whoever was underneath scuttle to the other side and crawl out from under the car.

"Shit." Jada cursed softly as she watched Sophia crawl under the guardrail with both lagging walkers behind her.

Sprinting over to the rail, Jada leapt it in a single bound. She saw Rick follow the three, then roll down the hill after he lost his footing. Being wary of the trees at the bottom of the hill, Jada ran, hoping to cut Sophia off from the walkers by running in a parallel line.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Rick run up behind the walkers. Jada was a few yards ahead of him, but she came up with a plan faster than ever. Running towards Rick, she popped out from behind a tree in front of him and almost got a swung rifle to the face for her troubles. She ducked in time and held up her hands.

"Whoa, Rick!" She hissed, as she fell off balance and slid to her knees, jarring her wounded right knee again. Her hands were held out in front of her.

"Sophia—" He started, pointing and running again.

"I know...I saw." She said, running after him. "I got an idea."

"Make it fast." Rick panted as they both saw the walkers ahead.

"Take care of the walkers. I'll get Sophia." She said.

Not waiting for Rick's agreement or not, she ran into the trees again and sprinted to catch up with Sophia. Jada reached a clearing seconds before the terrified little girl ran into it. Sophia saw Jada and ran straight to her, wrapping her little arms tightly around the Staff Sergeant's waist. Jada looked up to attempt to find the walkers and/or Rick. Not seeing them, but knowing they had to keep moving, she tugged Sophia away from her by pulling on the back of her shirt with her free hand. She leaned down so she was eye level with the girl.

"We gotta keep moving." Jada said, looking up and seeing a walker coming towards them. "Come on." She took the trembling hand of Sophia and pulled her along behind as they continued running.

They passed another clearing and paused on the far side of it. Jada looked back and saw the first walker not too far behind them. She got another idea.

"Sophia." She said, kneeling down next to the girl to get her attention. Sophia was clearly terrified, but Jada needed her to focus, so she set the metal bar on the ground and put her hands on the girl's cheeks to keep her attention on her. "Sophia, do you know how to climb trees?" Jada asked.

"Y-y-yes." Sophia stuttered out.

"Okay. Go run and find a tree to climb." Jada pointed towards the way they were going.

"B-but—"

"No buts, just go. Don't go too far and don't come down 'till me or Rick comes ta get ya." Jada gently shoved the girl and shooed her as she picked up the metal again. "Go!" She yelled at the girl when she refused to move.

She saw the girl's frightened eyes dart behind Jada before she turned and ran. Standing quickly, Jada turned to see one of the walkers coming towards her, looking hungry. She raised the metal like a baseball bat.

"Come on, ya son of a bitch." She growled, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

As the walker reached the far side of the clearing, Jada moved towards it. When she was in arm's reach, she swung the metal towards its head. She managed to disorient and knock it to the ground. Standing over the walker and swinging the metal the way one would chop wood, she let the walker have it...right across the face. The thing still growled at her, though, so she brought the metal back up and stabbed with it, right into the walker's left eye socket.

With a spurt of blood and a _squelch,_ the walker stilled.

Jada looked back to where the walker came from to see the other one not too far away. She wondered where Rick was as she brought her hand up to brush some rouge hair out of her eyes with the back of her hand, smearing dirt lightly across her forehead. Roughly pulling the metal out of the downed walker, she was about to charge the next one, when she saw Rick run in from the left with a rock in his hand. He ran out in front of the walker and threw the rock, hitting it square in the face, and making it topple to the ground. Jada came up to Rick as he approached the walker. She handed him the metal, which he took with a nod, and stabbed the walker through the nose.

Both stood still and panted to regain their breath and wait for the adrenaline to wear off.

"Where's Sophia?" Rick eventually asked, as he pulled the metal from the walker and handed it back to Jada.

"Back that way." Jada said, pointing to where the girl ran. They started to walk. "I didn't see ya, so I told her to climb a tree and wait for us before takin' down that one." She explained, pointing to the walker she killed as they passed it.

Rick looked down at the walker with a fierce glare before they continued on to look for Sophia. Jada lead them through the trees, glancing down at the ground every once in a while to look for footprints. She hoped they would lead them to the little girl.

They walked for another few minutes then Jada stopped, frowning. She was surveying the ground around them, trying to pick up the trail that suddenly ended. On a whim, she looked up, thinking maybe there was a branch low enough that Sophia could reach that would help her climb a tree. She didn't see a branch or Sophia.

"What's wrong?" Rick asked, seeing the confusion on the woman's face.

"I can't find her." She mumbled, still searching around them.

"What?"

Jada looked at him, eyebrows raising and eyes widening slightly. "I can't find her trail." She said slowly, looking back to the dirt. "It just ends." She crouched down and pointed to the small footprints. "See here? This is the last one I can see. Her next footprint should be here." She pointed to where there should have been another small print. "Nothing. Nothin' in any direction except behind."

She looked up at Rick as he crouched down next to her, looking for a continuation in the trail as well.

"Okay." Rick said softly. "Let's check the area 'n if we don' find her, we'll go back 'n git Daryl."

"Daryl?" Jada questioned as her head snapped up to Rick.

"He hunts. He can track." Rick explained.

"Better than me, anyway." Jada grumbled as she rose and walked in the direction where the footprints should have gone.

Rick stood and followed the Staff Sergeant. Her nose stayed pointed to the ground, while he looked everywhere else, including in the trees. Jada paused and sighed a few minutes later as she ran a hand through her hair. Putting her left hand on her hip, she turned in a slow circle, looking at the ground and the trees. She looked back at Rick and shrugged her shoulders as she bit her bottom lip, at a loss.

"A'right. Let's head back." He sighed. "We're losin' daylight, anyway."

With a nod, Jada followed the Deputy back the way they came, being meticulous about where they put their feet. It took them several minutes to get back to the highway where the rest of the group waited. Jada hung back behind Rick, but watched everyone, especially Carol who was being held by Lori.

"Where's Sophia?" The anxious mother asked immediately.

"We lost sight-ah her." Rick calmly explained, walking over to the woman. "We got the walkers that were after her, but she ran off and we lost her trail."

Jada watched with her heart in her throat as the woman turned in Lori's arms to weep. She couldn't take it.

"It's my fault." She said softly, clenching and unclenching her free hand as she watched Carol.

Several pairs of eyes swung in her direction.

"What?" Carol breathed through a sob.

"What'd ya mean?" Shane stalked over to her, but she kept her eyes on Carol, trying her best to ignore the beast steps away.

"Rick and I followed her through the woods. I sprinted ahead to get to Sophia before the walkers could get closer to her." Jada explained quietly, not taking her eyes off of the woman. "I caught up to her, but one-ah the walkers was right behind us. I told her to run ahead and find a tree to climb, while I took care-ah the walker. When Rick caught up an' killed the other one, we went to find Sophia, but I lost her trail."

Shane took another step closer to Jada, who finally swung her gaze towards him and tightened her grip on her metal weapon. For a moment, she was afraid he was going to either bring the rifle up and swing it at her face (or use his fist) or he was going to give her a good tongue lashing. Before he could do either, two things happened: Rick came up behind him and put his hand on the larger man's shoulder to pull him away, and Daryl took a few steps closer to attempt to get in between them if it came to that. Surprised etched itself onto her face briefly before she was able to shut the expression away.

Rick whispered something to Shane, but Jada didn't hear it, she only heard Shane's response: "Nah, man. Dey need someone 'ere." He stomped away like a spoiled child told he couldn't have a cookie before dinner, but not without glaring once more at Jada. Once he was gone, Jada stepped back to sit on the guardrail, releasing a huff.

"Okay." Rick said loud enough to bring the attention back to him. He walked over to Carol. "We're goin' back out ta look fer her. We came back ta git Daryl."

"Me?" The man in question asked.

"We need your tracking skills, since mine apparently lack." Jada replied, standing up. She glanced from Daryl to Carol. "We won't come back without her, Carol. I promise ya."

With another muffled sob, Carol nodded her head.

"While we're gone, keep lookin' fer anything we migh' be able ta use." Rick instructed everyone else, waving his arm in the direction of the car graveyard. He then turned and nodded at Jada and Daryl.

The three of them jumped over the guardrail and made their way down the hill. At the bottom, they heard a call of "Dad!" from behind them. Stopping, they turned back around to watch Carl climb over the rail.

"Carl, go back ta mom." Rick said, meeting his son at the bottom of the hill.

"I wanna go too." He stubbornly replied. "Sophia's my friend. I wanna help."

Jada squeezed her eyes closed as she took a deep breath in and out through her nose. She squeezed her left hand into a fist and increased her grip on the metal. She gradually opened her eyes to see Daryl looking at her with a raised eyebrow. She turned her head towards father and son so she wouldn't have to answer the hunter's unspoken question.

"Ya need ta stay with mom. She don't need ta worry 'bout ya, too." Rick reasoned with the boy.

Carl worked his jaw for a few moments before reluctantly nodding and heading back up the hill to be with his mother. Rick watched his son climb back up and over the rail, then turned back to the Staff Sergeant and the hunter. He nodded to them both and motioned for them to get moving.

Jada immediately turned and started walking to where they had a foot race with two walkers. Minutes later when they reached the first walker (the one Rick killed), Jada stopped and stepped off to the side, letting the two men go before her. She watched as Daryl crouched down and inspected the dead undead for a while before standing and looking at Jada.

"Other one's over there." She said, pointing with the metal bar to where the other dead walker was lying.

Daryl gazed at her for a few quick seconds longer, then headed towards the walker Jada killed. He crouched down again to inspect it. Rick and Jada followed; she watched the ground as they walked, keeping track of the footprints. She followed the trail for a few yards before kneeling down and waiting for the men; she unconsciously rubbed her wounded knee as she waited. When Daryl was done with the second walker, he sauntered over to Jada and crouched down next to her, lowering the Horton to the ground, but never taking his hand off of it. Rick stayed behind the two to keep an eye out for lone walkers.

"These're Sophia's tracks." She explained softly, pointing to the small prints in the dirt. "Those're Rick's." She pointed to the largest footprints on the left side of the trail. "Those're mine." She pointed to her own footprints on the right side of the trail; the ones that turned from forward to the side occasionally.

Nodding, Daryl stood and raised the crossbow back to his shoulder. He looked back down at Jada, since she had yet to move, and he lowered his hand down to her. Glancing at his hand, then his face, Jada slowly raised her hand to rest in his. He pulled her to her feet, then released her hand as he looked anywhere but at her.

_Figures there'd be a gentleman in there somewhere._ Jada thought, mentally grinning.

She looked back at Rick questioningly to see him smirking. Rolling her eyes, she faced forward and followed Daryl as he started following the trail.

When they reached the spot where Jada couldn't find anymore of Sophia's footprints, she stopped Daryl with a hand to his bicep. She felt him tense up and his muscles flex (probably unconsciously).

"This is where I lost her trail." She said softly, letting her hand slide off his arm as she pointed with the metal to the last visible footprint.

Daryl crouched down to study the girl's footprints closer. He looked back the way they came, squinting at the trail, before turning to look towards where she could have gone. He stood up again and walked over to a broken branch.

"She wen' tha' way." He pointed slightly to the right of the trail. "Looks like she was tryin' ta head back ta the highway."

He walked off again, following a trail that only he could see. Rick stepped up next to Jada, who glanced up at the Deputy before they both followed the hunter through the trees. The two kept a little distance between them and Daryl, so they wouldn't impede him in anyway. Jada watched, fascinated, as he stopped every once in a while to look more closely at some clue to Sophia's whereabouts. When he crouched down, Jada found herself staring at his ass and caught herself right before he stood up again. Every time, she took a look out of the corner of her eye to make sure Rick wasn't catching her staring.

_Snap out of it!_ She mentally scolded herself. _There's a little girl lost in the woods and you're ogling the redneck's backside? Ugh. Stop it!_ Straightening her back and focusing on anything but Daryl, she continued to follow him.

It was a good ten minutes later (with them losing daylight with every passing second), when they came into a clearing surrounded by trees with most of their leaves still attached. Jada was looking off to the left and didn't realized Daryl had stopped until she almost ran into him; she was a few steps away from crashing the redneck's back before her ears let her know that he stopped walking. Rick stepped up next to Daryl.

"What's up?" He asked, looking at the hunter, who was gazing intently at something on the ground under a tree on the far side of the clearing.

"Wha's tha'?" Daryl replied, pointing to what he was staring.

The three approached the object with caution. It was half buried in a pile of leaves, but Jada could make out the head and arms of a doll...Sophia's doll. Rick bent down to pick it up as Jada tilted her head up to look in the trees. She saw a branch on the opposite side of the tree quivering, so she stepped around the trunk guardedly. Jada was barely able to make out the form of a sneaker hanging down from the shaking branch.

"Sophia?" She called softly.

She kept her eyes on the branch, but she caught Daryl and Rick moving speedily around the tree to stand behind her, weapons at the ready.

"W-w-who's that?" A tiny, scared, stuttering voice asked back.

Jada let out a sigh of relief. She heard the men, lowering their weapons.

The girl was alright. Now to just get her out of the tree...

"Sophia." She breathed, resting her hand against the trunk of the tree to keep herself upright and try to look for the girl. "Sophia, it's JJ. It's alright. Ya can come down now."

"W-who's with ya?" She asked.

Jada looked over her shoulder at the two men before looking back up to watch Sophia move towards the trunk of the tree. "Daryl and Rick're here, too." She replied.

"And mommy?" Sophia questioned as she slowly started to climb back down the tree.

"She's waitin' for ya back at the car." Jada said, backing away from the tree to give her room.

They were quiet as Sophia finished her climb down, jumping the last three feet or so. She immediately ran over to Jada and threw her small arms around her waist, squeezing tight. With an _oof_ from the impact of the tiny body crashing into hers, Jada brought her left arm up to wrap around Sophia's shoulders, holding her against her. She looked up at the other two as she ran her hand over the girl's head. Rick was looking at them with a small smile on his face. Daryl had his crossbow slung over his shoulder and his arms crossed over his chest, shifting his weight from foot to foot, looking incredibly uncomfortable.

"A'right, let's git back 'fore it gets too dark." Rick said, not wanting to waste more time than necessary in keeping a worried mother away from her lost child.

Daryl nodded once and marched off the way the came. Jada tried to follow, but couldn't move because of Sophia's arms still wrapped around her...and it didn't feel like she was about to let go any time soon.

"Sophia, honey, ya have to let go-ah me so we can get back to your momma." Jada said patiently. She saw Rick stop and look back at them, then called for Daryl to wait up.

"Ah don't wanna be by myself again." The girl whispered.

"Ya won't." Jada sighed, trying to peel Sophia away from her waist. With a sigh, she gave up when Sophia wouldn't budge. "What if I carried ya?" She asked looking down.

Sophia pulled her head back enough to look up at Jada through still terrified eyes. With a nod, she took a step back. Jada looked over to Rick and held out the metal bar she still carried. Rick came back over and took the metal from her hand, not touching the walker blood on the opposite end. Jada then bent down and opened her arms to Sophia, who jumped up and wrapped her arms securely around the Staff Sergeant's neck. Folding her arms under the small girl's bottom to hold her safely, Jada straightened with a light grunt and nodded to Rick. The Deputy nodded back and they caught up with Daryl, who had gotten as far as the other side of the clearing before Rick called him to a halt. As they trailed behind Daryl, Rick stepped behind Jada to look at Sophia.

"Hey." He said softly. "Look what we found."

Jada felt Sophia release her neck with one arm, only to pull it back quickly, smacking Jada's shoulder with something soft. Rick must have given Sophia her doll back.

"Thank you." She heard the girl whisper before she ducked her head onto Jada's shoulder.

"Welcome." Rick whispered. He then stepped next to Jada and walked beside her.

Daryl continued to lead them, looking back every once in a while to make sure they were still there...or to make sure there were no walkers around.

From where they found Sophia, it took them close to a half an hour to at least get back to where the downed walkers were. By that time, Sophia had fallen asleep on Jada's shoulder; her left arm (the one holding her doll) was hanging down Jada's back, the doll hitting her natural waist with every step. Her right arm was curled loosely around Jada's neck and resting lightly over her shoulder. The girl was just dead weight to the woman. As they got closer to the sight where the walkers were, Jada grunted and shifted her arms under Sophia.

"Ya a'right?" Rick asked, looking over at her.

"Yeah. Just not used to luggin' around sleeping little girls." Jada replied with a small smile.

They both turned their heads when Daryl stopped and turned halfway back to them.

"Wan' me ta take 'er?" He offered politely.

_Still a gentleman...when he wants to be._ Her smile widened and she shook her head gently. "Nah, I'll be okay. Not much longer, right?" She answered with her own question.

"Mmhmm." Daryl hummed back.

"Let's keep movin'." Rick said, looking between the two, trying to hide his own grin.

Jada watched as Daryl squinted a glare at Rick, then turned and hiked the crossbow up onto his shoulder more. He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth as he started to walk away. Jada and Rick shared a glance as they started to walk again.

After they passed by the dead walkers, it was only a few more minutes before they reached the bottom of the hill leading up to the highway. It was good timing, too; the last of the daylight was just starting to fade, leaving them in twilight and the sky a shade of purple.

The two men started to climb up the hill, but Jada hung back a moment. She didn't want to risk Sophia falling out of her arms and injuring herself, so Jada pulled her head back to try to get a look at the girl with her head on her shoulder.

"Hey, Sophia." She said softly, trying to wake up the girl, but not startle her.

She mumbled something and turned her head to rub her face against Jada's shoulder.

With a sigh, Jada raised her face to the sky. As she did, she caught sight of Rick and Daryl looking back at her.

"A'ight?" Daryl asked.

"Yeah, just need her to tighten her grip." Jada replied.

As she continued to try to bring Sophia back to consciousness, Daryl hopped back down the hill. Rick waited for them about halfway up. Jada finally jostled the girl in her arms, bumping her around gently. Slowly, Sophia raised her head and looked around.

"Hey, kid." Jada grinned at her. "I need ya to do me a favor, okay?"

Sophia sleepily nodded her head and looked at the Staff Sergeant's face.

"Ya have to hold on tighter to me." She said, adjusting the weight in her arms. "We're goin' up the hill to the highway."

"Okay." Sophia answered, securing her arms around Jada's neck more tightly.

"Okay." Jada whispered back.

She glanced over to Daryl and nodded. He nodded back and they made their way slowly up the hill, Daryl not far from Jada's side…just in case. She did slide once, near the top, but was able to catch herself by throwing a hand to the ground, waving off help from both Rick and Daryl. At the top of the hill, all three let out a sigh. As they stepped over the guardrail, they heard Carol call out.

"Sophia?" The girl's mother yelled.

"Mommy!" Sophia yelled back and squirmed to get out of Jada's arms. The woman set Sophia on the ground and watched as she sprinted over to her mother.

Many of the others in the group came over to see what the commotion was as they heard the raised voices. They crowded around the reunited mother and daughter. Rick joined them, while Jada and Daryl hung back. She didn't know why the hunter hung back, but Jada did because she didn't want to intrude. A little grin turned the corners of her mouth slightly upwards as she watched Carl push his way through to give Sophia a hug. She then frowned when she couldn't locate Dale or T-Dog among the group. She looked around and saw the outline of Dale on top of the RV (the shape of his bucket hat was a dead giveaway). The large, dark-skinned man, she couldn't find, though. With a frown, she turned to the man next to her.

"Ya know where T-Dog is?" She asked tentatively.

"Pro'ally in the RV." He answered with a shrug before walking away from her.

_And there goes the gentleman._ Jada thought with a roll of her eyes. Finally moving from her observation spot, she made her way around cars to the RV. She was about to open the door and enter the mobile home when she barely made out T-Dog's form hunched over on the back bumper. Before heading over to him, she opened the door and stepped in the RV. It was getting dark enough to bring out flashlights. She went over to her rucksack and dug around in one of the pockets to locate the flashlight she snatched out of the first hummer she took from Fort Gordon.

Standing up, she turned and walked back out of the RV, clicking on the flashlight as she went. She closed the door quietly and walked over to T-Dog.

"Hey." She called gently when she was close enough.

His head slowly lifted and turned to look at her. "Hey." He replied in a scratchy, exhausted voice.

"Ya alright?" Jada frowned as she rounded him and the bumper to sit next to him.

"Cut ma arm earlier. Not feelin' so hot." He replied slowly.

Jada's eyes widened. She knew infection was absolutely possible (if not a given) in this environment. "Can I look at it?" She asked.

"Dale looked at it earlier. 'M fine." He said, leaning his head back to rest against the side of the RV.

"Theodore Douglas. Gimme your arm." She instructed fiercely.

"Hey, now, woman. No need ta use the full name." He said, relenting and holding out his arm.

"Don't be a stubborn ass an' I won't have to." She readily answered, gingerly taking his forearm into her hand. She brought the flashlight up to attempt to look at his 'cut', but the bandage was in the way. "Hold this." She held the flashlight out to him.

He lifted his left hand to take the flashlight from her and shined it on his arm.

Jada peeled the bandage back so she could see at least part of his wound. He hissed in pain, but with a mumbled "sorry" she kept peeling. When she was able to see a good portion of the wound, she held the bandage back and took the flashlight back from him as she lowered her head, examining the large gash.

"Not good." She mumbled.

"Yeah. Ah know." He replied, through gritted teeth.

"Ya need stitches, at the very least." She said, poking the skin next to the increasingly infected wound. "They find any pain killers or antibiotics 'round here?"

"Daryl had somethin' his brotha took fer the clap."

Jada's head shot up. "What?"

"Was carryin' it 'round on the bike." He elaborated.

Jada was lost, but hoped that whatever he took wasn't expired. "Umm, okay...what 'bout thread and needle for stitches?"

"Dunno."

With a sigh, Jada gently replacing the bandage over the gash and stood up. "Well, then. Guess I'll have ta have a look around then. Don't go too far, Mr. Douglas, ya hear?" She grinned to lessen the severity of her words; she just needed him to understand that what was happening to him was serious.

"Yes, ma'am." He replied, with a slack salute.

Jada let out a light chuckle. "If your gonna salute me, at least do it right. And at the very least call me Staff Sergeant." She joked, turning to go find Dale.

The keeper of the RV would surely know if there was advanced medical supplies around.

Rounding the mobile home, she saw some people milling about, while others were settling down for the night. She found the older man near the front of the RV.

"Hey, Dale?" She called, getting his attention.

"JJ. What's up?" He countered, turning towards her.

"Is there any needle and thread around for stitching up wounds?" She asked, stopping next to him and folding her arms under her breasts.

"You're talkin' about T-Dog, right?" He asked with a sigh. "I haven't found anything suitable to use."

Jada frowned as she took in the information. "I saw a med. kit in the cab of the overturned semi. Where I was before...the horde came by. I can go get it. If there's not advanced supplies, we can at least use what's in it."

"I don't think that's such a good idea right now. Why not wait 'till morning?" Dale suggested.

"I'd rather go now. The sooner, the better." Jada replied, resolutely.

"Go where?" Rick popped up from behind Dale, startling both Jada and Dale.

"T-Dog has a descent sized gash in his arm. It needs stitches and we currently don't have the supplies." Jada started before Dale could. "I was just sayin' that the overturned semi down there," she pointed over her shoulder, "has a med. kit that might have needle and thread."

"How do ya know that?" Rick questioned.

"I was tryin' ta get it when the horde passed." She explained again. "I didn't get it 'cause I didn't wanna get trapped in there."

"And why not wait 'till mornin'?"

Jada sighed before uncrossing her arms and placing her hands on her hips as she straightened her posture. "The sooner, the better. T really needs that scrape stitched or he's gonna be in trouble."

Rick clenched his jaw. "Ah'm not gonna win this, am ah?"

"Nope." Jada replied with a shit-eating smirk.

"Fine." Rick gave in. He turned to the side just as Daryl was sauntering by. "Hey, Daryl. Will ya go wit JJ down ta the semi?"

_Playing matchmaker, Rick?_ She thought with a sigh. "I don't need help and I can move faster on my own." Jada argued before Daryl could answer.

"You ain't winnin' this one."

She paused. "God, you're as stubborn as me." She said quietly. Rick nodded. "Fine." She took a look at Daryl, then grabbed the metal bar Rick was still carrying (he was probably going to give it back to her anyway), turned and started to walk off towards the semi. She leaned the metal bar up against the back of the RV; she had Daryl to take care of any problems if they came across any. She'd marched off a few more yards when she heard the hunter walk up next to her.

"What's in da truck?" He asked, not looking at her as they walked.

"Med. kit." She answered shortly. "Could help T-Dog...and anyone else in the future." A few more steps. "And while we're goin', I wanna jimmy open the back. See what's in there."

"What ya think's in it?"

"Dunno. I'm hopin' it's food, but could be anything." She took a glance over at him as she closed an open car door in their way.

They were quiet as they kept walking towards the downed semi. When they reached the cab, Jada circled around to the underside. After handing the flashlight over to Daryl, she grabbed the tire and went to pull herself up like earlier in the day. She was able to pull herself up to her chin before she dropped back down, rubbing her hands over her tired biceps with a grunt of frustration.

"Need a boost?" Daryl asked from behind her.

"Unfortunately." She grumbled. "My arm muscles haven't been this used for a while." She felt the need to explain.

"Mmhmm." Daryl teasingly hummed as he stepped up next to her.

Jada scoffed. "Whatever. Just help me, please."

He nodded, shoving the flashlight into a back pocket. Cupping his hands together, he bent his knees, and offered her a step up. Jada eased her right foot onto his hands and reached up for the tire. As she started to lift herself up, Daryl hefted and practically threw her onto the truck. When Jada rolled over to the top, she paused, lying on her back.

"Whoa." She mumbled, followed by: "I need to start doing daily push-ups again."

"Ya a'ight?" She heard him call up to her.

She lifted a hand and waved him off. "Yeah. I'm good." She said, rolling to her stomach and onto her knees. "Ya mind tossin' up the flashlight?" Three seconds later, the light sailed through the air to land next to her. "Thanks." She called back picking it up.

She then crawled over to the broken window on the door and looked down. Shining the light down, she mentally made note of all the foot and hand holds she could use. Finding her path, she put the flashlight in her mouth, then lowered herself into the cab. When she got to the bottom, she wiggled around so she could reach under the steering wheel and nab the medical kit. Sitting on the driver's side door cum floor, she took the flashlight out of her mouth and unzipped the bag. Shining the light into the cloth box, she shuffled things around, Band-Aids of all sizes, patches, gauze, wipes, anti-bacterial ointment, medical tape, a finger splint...but no thread and needle.

"Fuck." She cursed, kicking at the steering wheel.

"Sup?" Daryl called to her.

"No thread, no needle, but it's a good kit otherwise." She yelled back, zipping everything back up. "Mind your head. I'm tossin' it to ya."

Jada stood up and shot-putted the medical kit up and out. She hoped Daryl caught it as she stuck the flashlight back into her mouth and crawled back up, grunting in mild pain the whole time. Once up, she stood tall on top of the door and looked down to Daryl, shining the flashlight down on him (being careful not to hit his eyes).

"Nice catch." She said, seeing the kit in his arms.

"Nice throw." He replied.

Jada grinned. "Head on towards the back. I'll meet ya there."

With a nod, Daryl walked around the cab to the back of the trailer. Jada turned and stepped to the edge of the cab. With a leap, she made it to the trailer and walked down the length. She and Daryl met at the back at the same time. Jada stuck the flashlight in one of her cargo pockets, then laid down and shimmied over the edge of the truck, catching herself on the lip as her feet rolled over. She hung for a moment before looking down and dropping the few feet to the ground. Wiping her hands together to knock the dirt off, she turned towards Daryl.

"Let's open this puppy up." She said.

Daryl set the medical bag and his crossbow on the ground as Jada took out her flashlight once more and shined it towards the bottom of the roll up door. Daryl walked over and flipped the lever that held the door in place. With a grunt, he jerked it open. Jada helped him slide the door all the way up, then they took a step back and Jada threw a beam of light into the trailer.

With a groan, her shoulders slumped. "Balls." She mumbled, seeing that the trailer was full of papers, folders, and writing utensils. "Really? Fucking office supplies?" She scoffed.

Daryl motioned for the flashlight, so she handed it over to him, their fingers brushing against each other as she did so. She felt her heart jolt at the contact.

_Simmer down now._ She instructed her body. _Just a simple touch. It was bound to happen again, anyway._

She watched the hunter walk through the back of the trailer, all the way to the front, searching for anything useful. Finding nothing, he turned and headed back to her. When he stepped out, he handed the flashlight back to her.

"Fuckin' office supplies." He confirmed.

With a sigh, Jada picked up the medical kit. "Right. Let's head back, then."

The two started their trek back to the RV. About halfway there, Jada asked a question.

"Ya think any-ah these cars actually run?"

"Maybe. Ya lookin' ta leave?" He answered.

"Afraid you'll miss me?" She shot back with a smirk.

"Maybe." He was quick to answer, but sped up his pace to get back to the RV before she could.

Jada stumbled a bit at his response, shock on her face, but she recovered quickly. At the back of the mobile home, she pulled an almost unconscious T-Dog to his feet and helped him into the RV. As she sat him down at the small table, sitting across from him and digging through the medical bag for the ointment, bandages, and medical tape, she saw Carol and Sophia cuddled together in the back and grinned

"Sorry, buddy, no needle and thread, but this kit does have some ointment we can smear on that." She pointed to his arm.

"Whatever." He said, sticking his arm out and resting it on the table between them.

Jada got to work carefully taking off the old bandage before cleaning the gash a little more and applying the ointment. She then took some bandages and placed them gently, but tightly over his wound. She then secured the edges with the medical tape.

"There. Good enough...for now." She said, gathering the used materials to throw them away." Get some sleep. Hopefully, you'll feel like your annoying self in the mornin'." She grinned and walked off when he chuckled.

Outside the RV, Jada volunteered for first watch with Dale. After grabbing a snack, she climbed the ladder at the back of the mobile home. For three hours, the two sat on top of the RV and chatted. When their watch was up, Jada climbed down the ladder (her arms protesting the whole way). She quietly went into the RV to grab her sleeping bag out of her tightly packed tent bag. Deciding to sleep out in the open so she could look up at the stars, she found a black Volvo SUV a little ways away from the RV and crawled up the hood to the roof. Trying not to get her sleeping bag caught on the roof rack, she unrolled her sleeping bag and slid in on her stomach. She felt a twinge in her knee, reminding her that she still had her own healing wound.

_I'm too tired to change that now._ She thought blinking slowly. _I'll change it in the mornin'._

With a deep sigh, Jada took her SIG out of the back of her pants and set it in the bag within arms reach. She then rolled to her back and stared up at the stars until she fell asleep...which didn't take long considering the long day in the woods and her under-used muscles.

Jada was abruptly awoken the next morning by the sound of a gun shot off in the distance.

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><p><strong>AN:** _Soooo, I have to admit, I'm not sure how believable the interaction between Jada and Sophia was. I, myself, am really bad with kids (hell, I just all around despise them, if I'm completely honest), so writing kids really isn't my thing...I was also imagining her a little younger that the Sophia in the show; in the books she appears to be around 6, but on the show, she's 12...I was thinking somewhere around 8 or 9._

_And there's a little cliffhanger for ya. You can probably guess it, though if you've been keeping up with TWD._

_I promise the next chapter won't take me several months to get out...especially when Daryl is looking super sexy this season (I'm a sucker for shaggy hair on men...and shit! those arms-o-his! Yummy!).  
>I should say, it won't take me as long if I don't get flame reviews; I'm very sensitive to that kind of stuff and don't do well with them and that leads to long delays in chapters...<br>_

_On a serious note: THANK YOU to all who have read, reviewed, followed, and/or favored!_


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N:** _Hey, hey! Look at that! It only took me about a month to get another chapter written. Woot! I don't know why, but the plot bunnies have bred like bunnies and I keep getting ideas upon ideas for this fict._

_I'm sure you'd rather read the story than my babble, so go on. Enjoy!_

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><p><em>"...Fork was in the road took the psychopath..."<em>

Instantly awake from her light slumber, Jada sat straight up, hands immediately wrapping around the handle of her SIG, ready to fire if necessary. She surveyed the area, looking for the threat. Not seeing anything, she grunted as she stood up on the roof of the Volvo to look for the people in the group. She saw that everyone was either looking off into the trees on the right of the highway or at each other.

Taking a step towards the front of the SUV, Jada's leg buckled underneath her, making her wince and suppress a groan as she fell to her left knee on the roof.

_Goddamn!_ She thought, glancing at her right knee, near the wound. _I need to find a way to get look at that fucker._ Pursing her lips together, Jada slowly stood from her kneeling and crouched position, subtly glancing around to make sure no one saw her failure to walk.

Standing upright, she slid down the windshield onto the hood of the SUV, then jumped off (jarring her wound even more) and balled her hand into a fist as the pain hit. When the pain receded, Jada walked towards the RV, where most of the group was gathered, to find out what was going on. She tucked her SIG back into her pants.

"They should be back soon." She heard Andrea say to Lori as Jada approached the group. She sat on the back bumper of a station wagon and listened.

"Why just one shot, though?" Lori asked to no one in particular as she turned her head towards the tree line.

"Maybe they took down a walker." Carol suggested.

"No. Rick wouldn't risk a bullet for one walker." Lori replied in a clear 'don't be stupid' tone of voice.

"Let's give 'em some time. If they're not back in a few hours, maybe Daryl and Jada can go find them." Dale said, trying to keep everyone (especially Lori) calm.

Jada raised an eyebrow as she looked up at Dale. She didn't know anything about what was going on...only heard a gunshot and that apparently Rick was out there. She then wondered where the resident redneck was, since he wasn't in the circle of gathered people. Straining her neck and looking around the area, she caught movement out of the corner of her eye, on top of the RV. Looking up, she locked eyes with the hunter momentarily before his shifted up and over to the trees, seeming embarrassed. With an inward grin, Jada lowered her gaze to the people around her again.

Deciding to clear the tension and anxiety, Jada stood up. "Anyone want something to eat?" She offered, walking towards the RV. She received a few mumbles of 'sure' and general agreement.

Stepping up into the mobile home, Jada saw T-Dog slumped over the table. He looked semi-conscious. Frowning, she approached him.

"Hey, T. Feelin' any better?" She asked with a wince. _Dipshit. Of course he's not feelin' better._ She scolded herself.

All that came out of T-Dog was a mumbled reply that Jada couldn't decipher. She gave him a weak smile and patted him lightly on the shoulder before turning towards the RV's kitchenette.

Searching through the creaky cabinets, looking for something edible, Jada came across a large container of oatmeal...the same one she used for breakfast the day before.

_Better than nothin'._ She thought with a sigh as she stood upright and gathered cooking utensils.

After cooking up the oatmeal on the tiny stove in the RV, Jada spooned a small amount into a bowl and slid it in front of T-Dog.

"Eat up, pal. Need to keep what little strength you have up." She said, handing him a spoon.

With a reluctant nod, he took the spoon and slowly fed himself. Satisfied, Jada loaded up a few more bowls, then carried them two at a time out to the group. After shoveling a bowlful into her mouth, Jada filled the last bowl and took it outside. Slinking to the back of the RV, she one-handedly climbed up the ladder to the top; her arms protested the whole way, still recovering from the day before.

Once on top of the mobile home, Jada took a moment to breathe out a sigh of relief at the fact that she made it without falling. She then looked towards the front of the vehicle to see Daryl sitting on a crate and looking at her warily. Steeling herself, she approached him.

"Hungry?" She held out the bowl of oatmeal, producing a spoon from her cargo pocket.

Daryl looked from her to the bowl and back again before reaching a hand out to take the oatmeal from her with a nod of thanks. Jada dipped the spoon in before he pulled his hand away.

Not wanting to be awkward, but not ready to leave the hunter's presence, she turned to look out into the trees, placing her hands on her hips. She scanned the tree line a few times before turning 180 degrees and looking out at the scattered cars, looking for one that would suit her needs so she could leave this group.

_But do I _want_ to leave the group?_ She thought, frowning, and folding her arms under her breasts. _Not like I have anywhere else to go._

Rick had pretty much demanded that she stay, that she was welcome, and her skills as a chef and military personnel were needed and that Carl seemed to like her. She kinda liked the kid as well, so the feeling was mutual. The same went for Sophia. T-Dog had certainly taken a liking to her, joking around with her in the RV and around the campfire. Dale, Carol, Glenn and Lori were friendly with her; they didn't suspect her of ulterior motives, anyway, like Shane and Andrea.

And then there was Daryl Dixon.

Of course she liked the guy...anti-social, redneck that he was. For some reason, his awkward and standoffish attitude drew her in. He wasn't like the other men in the group or any man she had previously know. And, what could she say? She liked watching his ass as he walked away...like any female would to a man she found attractive.

Sighing, Jada decided to stay indefinitely. She stared out at the cars, at least trying to find one that would get her out of the RV. Give herself more room and not make her so claustrophobic.

"_How's yer leg?"_

_It hurts like a bitch, fuck you very much_. She mentally grumbled with an eye roll.

"Hey!"

_Wait…that wasn't mental…_

Jada turned her head to focus on Daryl still sitting on the crate, looking at her.

_Fuuuuuck!_

"Sorry." She paused, lowering her head and her gaze. "What'd ya say?"

Daryl glared up at her before setting the now empty bowl on the roof of the RV. "Ah said, how's yer leg?" He seemed annoyed that he had to repeat himself.

"Oh, uh, it's...fine." She mumbled in reply.

"That's bullshit if ah eva heard it." He said, making Jada snap her head up and over to him. "Ya almost fell off the top-ah tha' car. And yer limpin'."

_Shit! Cock! Piss! Balls!_

"You're too observant for your own damn good, ya know that?" She asked with a huff. She sat down on the roof next to the hunter, her legs crossing underneath her. She folded her hands in her lap, looking down at them. "It hurts." She eventually answered softly. "I need ta get a look at it, but there's not enough privacy to do it." She gripped her hands tighter together. "It can wait. Runnin' through the woods yesterday exasperated it, that's all." She lied.

She didn't have to look up to know that Daryl was watching her closely. They were then silent for many long moments.

"Why don't you head on down. I'll take watch for a while." Jada suggested, looking up at the man next to her.

Daryl worked his jaw for a minute before giving in with a nod. He stood and slung his crossbow over his shoulder. Reaching down, he picked up his empty bowl, then gave Jada a look she would have needed _The Daryl Dixon Handbook_ for, and walked towards the back of the RV to climb down the ladder.

Jada watched him until he was out of sight. She then shifted up onto her knees with a grunt and shimmied over to the crate the hunter was sitting on. Releasing a breathy sigh, she stretched her legs out in front of her and took a quick survey around her mentally counting people, then returning her search for a set of wheels.

About an hour passed before Jada felt her legs starting to cramp up. Standing, she carefully shook out her legs to return feeling to them. She walked to the back of the mobile home slowly, looking around and stretching. Off to the far side of the highway, in the direction they came from (about halfway between the RV and the overturned semi), Jada caught a glimpse of a pickup truck that was about as close to her ideal transportation as she could get. Heart thumping with excitement, she wanted to climb down and run over to it. But she realized that would have to wait until someone came to relieve her of watch duty. With a sigh, she turned back towards the front of the RV and walked.

More or less a half hour had passed, where Jada stood at the front of the RV and watched Dale and Glenn work under the hood, before she saw Lori. The anxious wife and mother was walking towards the back of the RV. Jada kept her eyes on the back ladder and watched as Lori popped up.

"Hey." Lori greeted. "Seen anything?" She asked, stepping up onto the top and walking towards the Staff Sergeant.

"Besides you guys millin' around? Nah." Jada replied, crossing her arms and turning to continue to watch Dale and Glenn. Lori stepped up next to her and also watched. "When did they leave this mornin'?" Jada asked after several minutes.

"Little after daybreak...when you were still curled up in yer sleeping bag on the roof-ah that car."

From the tone of her voice, Jada could tell Lori was teasing her. She chanced a glance at the other woman out of the corner of her eye. Lori's head was turned towards her and a small smile was across her lips. Jada flushed with a tiny smile of her own and looked down at her feet.

"I like sleeping out under the stars." She defended herself quietly.

"Fine by me." Lori held her hands up in front of her still smiling, but her smile quickly fell. "I'm startin' ta get worried."

"Starting?" Jada scoffed. "Hell, I'm surprised ya didn't run out there when we heard the shot."

"I'm the wife of a cop. Rick taught me better 'an that." Lori replied, turning to fully face the woman.

Jada turned her head to glance at Lori, then nodded once. "Good point."

"It's just been an awfully long time." Lori muttered more to herself than Jada. She then took a seat on the crate and stared out into the trees.

Jada growled internally. How dare she sit on Jada and Daryl's crate? Then she got a hold on reality and mentally slapped herself across the face. The crate was communal; anyone could use it however they wanted. Scrubbing her hands over her face with a low grumble, Jada shoved her hands into her pockets as she stared out into the distance.

Another chunk of time slid by before Jada remembered the truck. She turned and was about to ask Lori if she would keep look out, when Jada caught movement coming up the highway. Stepping towards the back of the RV and picking up a pair of binoculars sitting next to Lori and the crate along the way, Jada watched the movement closely. It definitely wasn't a walker; it was too big and moving too fast.

"What is it?" Lori asked nervously from behind Jada as she raised the binoculars to her eyes.

Jada focused on the movement and saw a young woman riding a horse, quickly, in their direction.

"Company." Jada replied, lowering the binoculars slightly to look over the top before bringing them back up to her eyes.

"Dale. Glenn. Something's coming!" Lori yelled down to the two people closest to the mobile home.

Jada heard them quickly drop what they were doing and gather weapons. They congregated at the back of the RV.

"Whaddaya see?" Dale called up to Jada.

She lowered the binoculars again to glance down at Dale. "A chick on a horse. And they're comin' up fast."

"A threat?"

Jada looked down to see that Daryl had joined the line of defense. She looked back thorough the binoculars.

"Don't look like it." She replied after a second. "She's got a baseball bat, but it's tucked in the saddle. Looks worried, though."

The men held their weapons at the ready, anyway. Jada crouched down and slid the binoculars towards the crate, then reached behind her to rest her hand on her SIG, ready to draw if necessary. They all waited for the horseback riding chick to come to them. When the girl came close to the group, she looked at all of them before speaking up.

"Lori? Lori Grimes?" She asked frantically, looking up to the RV roof where Lori and Jada were; they were the only two women visible to the girl.

"Who the hell're you?" Daryl spoke up for the group.

"Lori, there's been a accident. Carl's been shot. He's alive, but ya need ta come now." The girl continued, ignoring the hunter. "Rick sent me."

Jada rose an eyebrow and swung her head to Lori when the other woman let out a gasp; The look on her face was one of terrified disbelief. Lori practically ran to the ladder and climbed down. She then ran over to the horse and grabbed the girl's hand. The girl lifted her up onto the back of the horse.

"Ya can't go with this chick! We don't even know if she's tellin' the truth." Daryl yelled at Lori.

He went ignored.

"Turn back down the highway to Fairburn Road. Two miles down is our farm. The mailbox says 'Greene'. That's where they'll be." The girl said, then turned the horse and bolted back the way she came.

Jada watched Daryl click his tongue then shoo away the girl with a wave of his arm (even though she was already leaving), then he stalked off back up the highway in a tiff.

"Come on, Glenn. Let's get this patched up and we'll follow." Dale said with a sigh, patting the younger man on the shoulder as he turned back to the front.

Jada stood up straight and watched as Lori and the girl rode out of sight. She put her hands on her hips. _If Carl's been shot, that'd mean someone there has medical knowledge._ She pondered. _They probably have a suture kit. And bandages. T-Dog can get taken care of. I can get cleaned up._ Coming up with an idea, Jada abandoned watch duty and climbed down the ladder. She walked (with a slight limp) towards the front of the RV. She passed T-Dog, who was sitting on the steps with a blanket over his shoulders. He looked terrible. At the front of the mobile home, she watched Glenn and Dale for a moment, her arms crossed. She then cleared her throat. Both men looked up at her.

"How long before we can get movin'?" She asked.

"We still have to attach the hose yet." Glenn replied.

"Okay, well. I have an idea, then." She looked at the ground near her feet.

"What's that?" Dale asked, wiping his hands on a rag as he stepped closer to Jada.

She took a deep breath. "T-Dog is clearly not doing well. If Carl's been shot and being taken care of, they'd have to have some medical training, right?" She looked at the older man, wondering if he understood where she was going with the question. She watched as dawning slowly appeared on Dale's face.

"They could get him patched up." He said.

Jada nodded. "He clearly can't drive on his own, though. Someone has to take him there."

By now the others had gathered around to listen in on the conversation.

"Who?" Andrea scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "You?"

"I didn't say me. I said someone." Jada glared daggers at the other woman. "If you want to take him, fine. He should get there a-sap, though."

"Alright, alright." Dale said, holding his hands out to placate the two women. He then turned his upper body to look at Glenn. "Glenn, why don't you go on ahead with T-Dog. Take Carol's Cherokee."

"But...what about the RV?" Glenn asked, wiping his hands on his own rag.

"I can do it. Shouldn't take too long." He smirked at the younger man. "I've been doin' this a lot longer than you have, son."

With a nod, Glenn passed off his rag to Dale, then walked around to the side of the RV, where T-Dog was sitting at the door. He helped the bigger man to his feet and they walked slowly towards the beat up station wagon. Carol handed over the keys as they shuffled by. Once they were settled in the vehicle, Glenn started it and carefully, slowly, turned the car back down the highway. Everyone watched until they were clear of the pile-up, then went back to doing whatever they were before.

With a small sigh of relief, knowing that at least T-Dog would get his injuries taken care of, Jada started to head down the road, finally getting a chance to take a look at that truck. As she rounded the back of the RV, Daryl stepped out from the other side, startling her.

"Jesus, Daryl." She grumbled as she continued walking...limping.

"Why didn'tchya go with 'em?" He asked, falling into step next to her.

"I didn't wanna start a war with miss high-and-mighty back there." She replied, looking straight ahead.

_Though, she would make a nice punching bag..._

She heard Daryl scoff lightly. "Yer hurt."

"Yeah, so's T-Dog. And he's worse off than I am." She replied, frowning. "I can live for another few hours." She felt the need to change the subject, since she didn't like having her misjudgment brought up. "Ya know how to hotwire a car?" She asked.

"Thought ya weren't leavin'." He countered.

"I'm not." She quickly defended with a sigh. "But I need to get outta the RV. Bit cramped. And I really don't want to be around Andrea for the foreseeable future."

She glanced sideways to see the hunter nod, and they continued on in silence, Jada leading the way to the truck.

When they reached the front of the truck—a silver Dodge Ram pickup—Jada paused to take a really long, good look at it; it was in good shape and definitely one of the newer vehicles on this stretch of road. She looked to both sides of the truck and saw no damage. Only a descent layer of dirt and grime covered it, but that didn't bother the woman. She walked around to the tailgate (fully aware of Daryl standing off to the side with this arms crossed over his chest, watching her) and lifted the latch. The gate fell down without so much as a squeak. Jada grinned, then visually sifted through what laid in the bed. She saw duffle bags and a few boxes, but nothing that out-right said 'hey, I'm useful', so she placed her hands on the gate and hopped up, swinging her legs up as she did. Standing up in the bed of the truck, she stepped to the nearest bag and carefully opened it. It held clothes and nothing else, so she zipped it back up and tossed it over the side.

"What're ya doin'?" Daryl asked as she moved on to the next bag.

"I ain't carryin' around other people's useless stuff." She replied, opening and sorting through another bag of clothes. "I'll look for anything we need, then dump it." She looked over at the hunter. "Wanna help?"

"Nah." He replied, shifting his weight to one foot.

Jada rolled her eyes. "Typical." She mumbled, grabbing another bag.

After going through four other duffle bags of only clothes (_Who the fuck needs this much clothing?_ She questioned mentally), she finally got to the boxes, which were tucked up near the cab of the truck. Lifting the lid—and hoping to all get-up that it wasn't more clothing—Jada released a sharp, stunned gasp.

"What?" Daryl asked, shifting to grab his crossbow.

Jada reached into the box and picked up an item, holding it up for Daryl to see. "Canned corn." She said, tossing him the can, then checking the rest of the labels. "Canned yams, canned green beans, canned carrots, canned tomatoes...this box is full-ah canned veggies." She said, then speedily moved to the next box. Throwing off the lid, her eyes widened. "Canned tuna, canned chicken, so many kinds of soups." She looked up at Daryl, flabbergasted. "We can eat like kings!" She half joked and shuffled over to the last box, lifted the lid. "Gatorade, bottles of water, bottles of juice. Goddamn, these people were prepared."

Jada replaced the lids on the boxes and secured them. Walking to the tailgate, she jumped down, landing most of her weight onto her left leg; she still managed to jar her right, though, and grimaced. She hobbled to the driver's side (feeling Daryl's eyes on her the whole time) and peeked in the window, making sure no one was still inhabiting the cab. Not seeing anyone, she opened the door cautiously. Immediately, she looked to the floor to make doubly sure nothing was lurking. Satisfied, Jada hopped up into the cab and started to search for keys…which were still in the ignition. Grinning, she looked back through the open door to Daryl.

"Might not need ya to hotwire." She said, reaching for the key.

"Don't be so cocky." He warned.

Still grinning, Jada turned her attention back to the key, watching it as she turned and mumbling "come on, come on" as she did. The truck sputtered before stalling. Not one to give up so easily, Jada turned the key all the way back before attempting again. She heard it groan and stutter again before revving itself up.

"HA! HA!" She whooped, then looked out at Daryl. "Listen to that baby purr!" She smiled wide and laughed again as she leaned forward to kiss the steering wheel.

Daryl stared at her for a moment before walking towards the truck and putting the can he was still holding back in a box. While he did that, Jada rolled down the window and closed the door. She glanced at the fuel gauge to see it had about half a tank of gas, then put the truck into reverse.

"I'm gonna back it up." She explained, leaning out of the window slightly. "Guide me?"

_My god. If that didn't sound sexual..._ She thought, feeling herself blush marginally.

Daryl stepped back from the truck and nodded once. He watched the tail end as Jada backed the vehicle up, through the other cars, to where the traffic jam began. It only took them a few minutes (Daryl only giving out the occasional correction) before Jada freed the pickup. She backed up far enough to maneuver the truck into the path the RV took and shifted into drive. Slowly, she pulled up next to Daryl.

"Ya want a ride back?" She asked, bobbing her head towards the bed.

Without answering, Daryl sauntered to the back of the truck, lowered the tailgate, and hopped up. Jada watched him through the rearview mirror and once the tailgate was back up and Daryl had taken a seat near the boxes, she started to drive back to the RV and the group.

When Jada had pulled the truck up next to the RV, she put it in park then cut the engine as Daryl jumped down from the back. She took the keys out of the ignition and shoved them into her pocket, then got out of the cab.

Dale leaned out from the front of the RV. "Nice wheels." He commented.

"Thanks." Jada replied, then reached into the bed of the truck. "It was full-ah canned food and some drinks, too." She tossed a can of tomatoes to Dale, who caught it clumsily.

"You're kidding." Dale stated, flummoxed, glancing down at the can in his hand, briefly, before looking back up to Jada.

She shook her head. "Three boxes full." She elaborated with a grin.

"This mean you're leaving us now?" Carol asked softly from next to Dale.

"Nah." Her grin was softer. "I'll stick around for a little longer."

While Jada was focused on the adults, a small blur came rushing at her, crashing into her side. With an "oof," Jada looked down to see Sophia with her arms wrapped tightly around Jada's waist.

"Good. I don't want ya to leave, JJ." The girl said.

Surprised, Jada looked up at Sophia's mother, who was looking at her daughter with a soft, loving smile.

"That settles it then." Dale said quietly with a smirk as he handed the can over to Carol and went back to fixing the RV.

Jada glanced back down at the girl around her waist. She patted her shoulder awkwardly—her attack hug threw off the normally put together Staff Sergeant. "Alright, kid. Why don't ya go on back to your momma." She suggested faintly.

Sophia leaned back to look up at the woman, then (after seeing Jada's small smile) the girl released her and walked back to her mother.

Carol tossed the can of tomatoes back to Jada, who caught it one handedly. "Keep that food safe." She said, then directed Sophia to get into the RV.

"Yes, ma'am." Jada replied.

Out of the corner of her eye, Jada saw Daryl slink through the surrounding cars and head to his motorcycle. Jada kept her eye on him as she walked up and leaned on the mobile home next to the hood where Dale was working. She asked Dale how much longer it was going to take until he had the hose attached. As he answered, Jada watched Daryl kick up the kick stand on the bike and walk it down the road to sit next to her newly-acquired truck. Dale's winded response ended with "so, maybe another half hour?" and Jada returned her attention to him and nodded.

"While I'm doing this, maybe you three can move some of those cars outta the way so I can turn this thing around." He then proposed, looking over Jada's shoulder.

Jada had failed to notice that both Daryl and Andrea had been standing nearby while Dale ranted. Nodding again, Jada turned to help clear the road with the other two.

Within a half an hour, Jada, Daryl, and Andrea had a good circle cleared for the RV to maneuver in and Dale had the hose reattached to the mobile home. Andrea had found an almost mint green Hyundai Tucson that she was able to start and decided that she needed a car, too. Jada had rolled her eyes, then walked to her truck (pulling her keys out at the same time) as Dale said they were ready to go.

After revving the engines on all of the cars—and one motorcycle—they all got to facing the correct direction and started towards the Greene's farm; Daryl led the way with the RV behind him, then Andrea, and Jada brought up the rear.

They were able to find Fairburn Road easily enough. Two miles down the road, just like the chick on horseback said, was a big, gray mailbox with 'GREENE' written on the sides in black paint. The convoy turned and followed the long dirt road down to the large white farmhouse.

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><p><strong>AN:** _Does anyone else feel really good after posting a chapter? Like a sense of accomplishment? Or am I just weird?_**  
><strong>

_Oh, so I read somewhere that the writers of the show wanted to kill off Carol when they got to the prison, but Melissa McBride pretty much begged to stay, so they killed off T-Dog instead. I didn't have a problem with Carol (other than the fact she hit on Daryl like there was no tomorrow), but now, I really don't like her. T-Dog's gonna stick around in this fict; I liked him too much._

_But anyway, quick question: do you as a reader prefer to read longer chapters or shorter ones? Because I was actually going to incorporate their arrival at the Greene's in this chapter, but thought it was getting too long (it was about 8 pages in Word). I'm just curious, really._

_Thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed, alerted, and favored!_


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N:**_ Hello, you lovely people! I'm really very sorry this took so damn long to get out. I literally spent the past 3 weeks writing it because I could NOT concentrate on it. I'd write a few sentences and be like 'yeah, I dunno' and close the document...therefore, this is probably a very weird chapter. The thing was, I knew what I wanted to write and how to write it, just the actual, physical writing part of that didn't want to happen. Ugh!_

_Anyway, I've decided that we're not going to stay very long on the Greene farm...it'll be more like the comics book 'verse. We have Sophia, so we just have to wait for Carl to get better. With that said, and with the whole farm thing being book related, Shane didn't use Otis as walker bait and they've stayed on the farm._

_Right-o. Here's a very long chapter for you._

_Enjoy!_

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><p><em>"...We can chill, with a half a pill and a happy meal..."<br>_

As the four vehicles parked in an orderly fashion in front of the farmhouse, engines were silenced as people's feet touched down onto the hard, dirt-packed ground. The group moved closer to the front steps as a few people came out of the front door and down off the porch, including Rick and Lori. Jada stopped behind most of the group, arms crossed and squinting into the late midday sun.

"How is he?" She heard Dale ask.

"He'll pull through." Lori answered, gratefully, then motioned to an older man. "Thanks to Hershel and his people."

There was some more murmured conversation that Jada couldn't pick up on, then the older gentleman with a balding head and white beard stepped up next to Rick as he pointed to him.

"This is Hershel. His farm, his rules." Rick said as he nodded to the older man.

"Your group is welcome to stay here while the boy recuperates. However, ya won't be able to stay in the house. Nothin' personal, but we don't know ya." Hershel explained in a thick Southern accent. "And I'd prefer if y'all didn't carry guns on the property."

Jada gulped. _No guns? He expect us ta use kitchen utensils?_ She took a quick glance over to Daryl. _Well, he didn't say anything about crossbows._ She grinned softly.

"No guns?" Shane questioned from behind Rick, near the bottom of the stairs.

The Sheriff's Deputy turned to face his partner. "We're guests here. We'll follow and respect Hershel's rules." He turned back to the rest of the group. "No gun totin' unless we're headin' ta a shooting range off the property."

"Ah'd feel better if we at least had a rifleman on lookout." Shane said, still put-out. "Dale's got experience."

After a few moments, and looking over everyone present, Hershel nodded his head once, agreeing, even if he didn't like the idea.

The main group started to move off after getting the ground rules. Dale went back to the RV and Andrea to the Hyundai. They moved their vehicles across the yard and under a copse of trees. Shane followed in Carol's Cherokee. Carol and Sophia followed Lori back into the house to check on Carl and offer help where they could.

Jada took her SIG out of the back of her pants as she went back to the truck. She put the gun in the glove box and locked it before she wandered over towards Rick, following the rest of Hershel's people towards the house. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Daryl wander off towards the woods behind the house, crossbow cocked and ready. She managed to catch his eye briefly as he took a look over his shoulder before disappearing into the trees. When Jada was close enough to Rick, she crossed her arms under her breasts, hugging herself gently.

"Hey, JJ." Rick greeted softly. "Everyone a'right?"

"Yeah, yeah. They're good." She nodded. "In the back-ah that truck I brought, there's some boxes of canned foods and drinks. Got lucky." Jada grinned. "I think we should save it for extreme circumstances, though."

"Yeah, okay. Good idea." Rick replied, hands on his hips and looking distracted.

They were silent for a few seconds.

"So, um. How's T-Dog?" Jada asked, looking out over the farm.

"He's stitched up and restin'." Rick replied. "Ya can go see 'im if ya want." He nodded towards the house.

Jada nodded. "'Kay...thanks."

She let her arms drop and walked around Rick to climb the stairs. Jada opened the screen door slowly, hoping it wouldn't squeak. It slammed softly behind her, though, and she winced. Glancing to her left, she saw a living room with an out-dated floral couch. She grinned, seeing T-Dog stretched out on the couch, sipping from a glass of iced tea.

"Well, somebody's living in the lap of luxury." Jada said, coming up behind the couch and leaning on the back.

"Hey, girl." T-Dog said, smiling, and setting the glass on the coffee table in front of the couch.

"Hey, yourself." She said, still grinning. "How's the arm feelin'?"

"Don't feel like razors are dug into ma arm so deep." He replied, sitting up a little straighter. "What took y'all so long?"

"Oh, ya know. Dale and his RV maintenance." Jada said flippantly with a wave of her hand. "Who stitched ya up?"

"Patricia. Tha older woman with blonde-ish hair." T-Dog said, snuggling back into the couch. "She's normally in da kitchen."

"Alright." Jada said quietly and leaned over the back of the couch to gently pat T-Dog's good arm. "Get some rest, buddy."

T-Dog nodded as he closed his eyes.

As Jada straightened up, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly before turning and looking for the kitchen. She backtracked to the front door, then walked across the hall and into a dining room. From there, it was clear that the large kitchen was on the other side. Walking quietly to the doorway, Jada stopped and put her hands in her pockets as she leaned on the door frame and looked around the open kitchen; the walls and backsplashes were white and the counter tops appeared to be wooden. An island was situated in the middle of the room with a butcher block top. Three women were occupying the space: Carol was one of them, another was a younger woman close to Jada's age (maybe a few years younger than the Staff Sergeant) with short dark hair, and an older woman who fit T-Dog's description of 'Patricia'.

Jada was longingly looking at the knife set magnetically held up on the wall over the stove when Carol noticed her.

"JJ." The woman said, getting her attention. "You alright?"

"Huh?" Jada shook her head slightly and looked at Carol. "Oh. Yeah. I'm okay." She paused a moment, straightening from the doorframe, and unconsciously standing "at ease" (years of military practice doesn't just disappear overnight). "I'm, uh, looking for...Patricia?" She asked with a quick wince.

Carol and the younger woman looked at the third woman in the room.

"I'm Patricia." The woman stepped towards her. "What's wrong?"

"Umm..." Jada paused again, glancing at the other two women before looking back at Patricia. "Can I speak to you in the other room, ma'am?"

Patricia looked at Carol, who was looking at Jada with a small frown, before nodding and walking towards Jada. The older woman pointed behind Jada, indicating that they step into the dinning room. With a nod, Jada turned smartly and walked back into the room, circling the table to stand next to the window. She turned to face Patricia, who stopped on the other side of the window and crossed her arms over her chest; Jada held her hands behind her back, clenching them tightly together.

"T-Dog said you stitched him up." Jada started in a very quiet voice, not able to look the other woman directly into her eyes.

Jada always had an issue with asking for help. She could never look whoever she was asking in the eye; she found that by looking over the person's shoulder, focusing on something behind them, it was easier. Not knowing someone made it even harder to ask for their assistance. She even stumbled and paused frequently.

"Yes. I did." Patricia replied just as quietly, giving Jada a very confused look. "I'd done a bit of nursing."

Jada let out a sigh of relief _Oh, thank god._ She thought, letting her arms relax down at her sides. She nodded, looking down at Patricia's shoes.

"Okay. Great." She mumbled, then looked back up to the woman. "Could you...possibly...umm..." She stumbled.

"Do ya need stitches?" Patricia asked, her head tilted slightly to the side.

Jada winced again. "I don't know, ma'am. Might." She brought her hands in front of her and twisted her fingers together nervously.

Patricia sighed and uncrossed her arms. "Lemme have a look and we'll go from there." She looked at Jada expectantly.

"Is there, uh...somewhere a bit more...private?" Jada whispered. "It's here." She pointed to her wound over her cargos.

In order to get to her wound, she'd have to take off her pants. She really didn't want to drop trou in front of a bunch of people she didn't know.

Patricia thought for less than ten seconds as she looked to where Jada pointed. "Upstairs bathroom." She said, looking back up. "Lemme grab ma stuff." She then turned to walk off.

"Umm." Jada stopped her before she got too far. "I'd like to keep this between the two of us, if ya don't mind. Only one other person knows."

_And I really doubt he'll spill the beans._ Jada thought of Daryl. _But you, I'm not sure of._ She thought of Patricia.

"Sure." Patricia replied, then turned and left the dining room.

Jada, not really knowing what to do, maneuvered around the table and headed back to the front hallway, where she saw the stairs that lead to the second floor. Placing her hands behind her back, she watched the group off in the distance out of the front door's screen as she waited for Patricia at the foot of the stairs.

In less than a minute, Patricia walked into the hallway from the dining room (probably thinking Jada was still in there), carrying a medium-sized, square, white bag of what Jada thought was medical supplies. Patricia nodded towards the stairs, then led the way up them.

About halfway up the staircase, Jada heard boots in the hallway. She turned her head to see Rick walking from the back of the house towards the front door. He stopped when he caught sight of her.

"Hey, JJ." He said, placing his hands on his hips as he looked up to her.

Jada paused, with her hand on the railing, to turn and look back at the Deputy. She nodded for him to continue.

"We're gonna set up watch shifts. Need ya out there." He pointed out the front towards where the group was setting up camp.

Jada took a quick look behind her to see Patricia had also stopped a few steps ahead of her. The woman was watching their interaction carefully. Jada lowered her head and turned to look back at Rick.

"Can ya gimme like ten minutes?" She asked as she scrunched up her face. "Patricia's helping me with something'."

Rick gave her a look, silently asking her what was going on, but the Staff Sergeant was stone-faced and unwilling to discuss the matter at the moment…or ever. After several moments of a silent standoff, Rick finally nodded and headed towards the front door again. As he was reaching for the screen, he turned back.

"Ten minutes." He said.

Jada nodded and lifted her hand to give him a lax salute, then turned and followed Patricia back up the stairs. As she reached the top, she could hear the screen door close with a soft slam. Turning to her right, she continued to follow the older woman about halfway down the hallway. Patricia opened a door on their left and inclined her head for Jada to go on in ahead of her.

Jada strode forward and into the tight bathroom; it was just big enough for the two of them to stand in there comfortably and close the door. Standing in front of the toilet, Jada waited until Patricia closed the door and set her medical bag on the edge of the sink.

"Oh, um, by the way," Jada paused momentarily, feeling slightly caged and anxious, "my name's Jada. Or JJ." She finished her sentence in a mumble.

Patricia nodded in understanding. "Can ya roll up yer pants or hafta take 'em off?" She asked.

Jada grinned marginally. She liked the woman already, just based on the fact that she got down to business and was a no-nonsense lady. She did say she had medical training. Jada figured she probably was used to using it.

"I guess taking 'em off'll be best." Jada mumbled.

_Good thing my underwear's clean._ She thought off-handedly as she glanced down at her cargos before reaching for her belt and unhooked it. After sliding the ends apart, she glanced up at Patricia. The woman was busy digging through her medical bag, giving Jada some modicum of privacy. Jada looked back down to her cargos and pulled the zipper down, then quickly slid the pants down as she sat on the toilet seat lid and covered herself the best she could with her shirts. She took the precious few moments before letting Patricia know she was ready to take her own look at the wound. Carefully unwinding the few-days-old bandage she had around her leg, she let it fall to the floor as she looked at the wound; it definitely sealed itself, but very messily...apparently, she did re-open it while chasing after Sophia the previous day. There seemed to be some bruising around it, as well, but not enough to make her think that it was infected. She did take care of it the best she could with her limited (and dwindling) supplies. With a small sigh of relief, she looked up to Patricia, who had taken some bandages out of her kit.

"Okay." Jada said softly. "What'd ya think?"

Patricia took a pair of nitrile gloves out of her bag as she went to sit on the edge of the bathtub (located to the immediate left of the toilet). Jada swiveled on the toilet seat lid forty-five degrees so Patricia could get a better look. Leaning forward, the woman gently prodded the skin around the wound, making Jada jerk and hiss in wound-up anticipation.

"Hurt?" Patricia asked, lifting her hand just above the skin.

"No, just a reaction." Jada replied. "Sorry."

Patricia hummed in response, then went back to prodding.

About three minutes passed before Patricia finished with her examination. "Definitely needs ta be cleaned real good." She said, reaching for her med. bag. "And needs a few stitches."

Jada nodded in understanding, not very surprised either. She watched as Patricia reached for a warm, wet wash cloth and gently rubbed away the excess and dried blood from around the wound. She then opened an anti-bacterial cleaning wipe from a small package and swiped it over the area, probably pressing a bit too hard for Jada's liking. The pressure and the sting of the wipe made Jada grip the edge of the toilet seat, then when Patricia dabbed a cotton ball soaked in hydrogen peroxide over the stab wound, Jada closed her eyes tight and gritted her teeth together, clenching the toilet even harder, her knuckles almost white.

"How long ago did this happen?" Patricia asked as she threw the cotton ball in the garbage can.

"Uh," Jada started to answer through her teeth and a gust of breath, "dunno. Few weeks ago." She huffed out another breath, then opened her eyes. "I've been cleaning it the best I could, but didn't have suture material...and I ran outta bandages a few days ago."

"Hmm." Patricia murmured. "Looks pretty good fer bein' a few weeks old. What happened?"

Jada tensed. She really didn't want to get into it. _Maybe the absolute basics._ She thought. _The woman's trying' ta help ya._

"Defended what was mine." Jada replied, glancing down at the wound. "Got surrounded by some ass—" she cut herself off and changed phrases, not wanting to offend the woman, "uh, some jerks. One snuck up behind me. Stabbed me with a knife. They ran off with a lot of my stuff...including the beautiful med. bag I found earlier that day."

"Terrible." Patricia said, digging through her bag and pulling out a packaged, sterile needle and thread. Opening the package, she threaded the needle and looked at Jada. "Ya ever have stitches before?"

"Yeah...when I was nine and fell outta the neighbor's tree house." Jada said, clenching all her muscles in apprehension.

"Sorry I don't have anything to numb it." Patricia apologized, placing her free hand onto Jada's knee.

"It's fine. Just...do it as quickly and efficiently as ya can, please." Jada said, readjusting her grip on the edge of the toilet.

"Okay. Try ta relax. Here we go." Patricia said, then immediately dug the needle into Jada's flesh.

The Staff Sergeant clenched her teeth tight to muffle a scream of pain. Her eyes squeezed shut and she gripped the toilet so hard, she would forever swear she heard it crack.

_OH MY GOD! THIS SHIT FUCKIN' HURTS!_ She cursed in her mind. _There better be some goddamn fuckin' alcohol around here when this is over!_

"Jada." She heard Patricia call to her from a distance. "Jada." Her voice was louder.

"Yeah." Jada finally replied, cracking open her eyes.

"Were ya in the military?" Patricia asked as she glanced up quickly before returning her attention to her stitching.

Jada froze. "Uh...yeah." She paused, eyeing the older woman, then clenched and hissed through her teeth as Patricia stuck the needle back in her leg. "Why?"

"The way ya hold yerself." Patricia replied. "When ya were standin' in the kitchen, yer hands were behind ya, back straight. And ya called me _ma'am_."

"Yeah. Yeah. Joined the Army two years after I finished high school...they paid fer college." Jada said, opening her eyes again.

"What'd ya do?"

Jada finally understood why Patricia was asking her questions. She was an idiot to not realize it until then...Patricia was trying to distract her from the pain.

"I was a chef...at Fort Gordon."

"What's yer rank?"

"Staff Sergeant."

There was a pause as Patricia reached over to her med. bag and grabbed her scissors. She tied off the end of the thread, then snipped it close to the knot. Reaching back over to the bag, Patricia replaced the scissors and took out a tube of Neosporin antibacterial cream.

"There. Not so bad, right?" She said as she smeared a large amount of cream over Jada's now-stitched wound.

"Ha. Right." Jada replied sarcastically. "Lemme stitch you up next time, see how fun it is."

Patricia scoffed, then reached over to the edge of the sink where she had set the large square bandage and medical tape. She took the patch out of the sterile packaging and placed it on Jada's leg. Ripping off four long strips of tape, Patricia taped down the edges of the patch to Jada's skin. Placing the tape roll back into the bag, Patricia picked up some strips of bandage and wrapped them around Jada's thigh tightly, then followed it up with an elastic bandage to keep everything in place.

As Patricia stood and took off the medical gloves, Jada stood as well and pulled her cargos back up real quick. She watched Patricia clean up and re-pack as she zipped her pants and buckled her belt. Placing weight on her right leg, she felt the bandage tighten as her muscles expanded. There was a bit of pain, but that was to be expected at this point. She was still mildly afraid to put too much weight on it. Turning towards Patricia, she waited until she received the woman's attention.

"Thank you for this, ma'am." Jada said, standing with her back straight and her arms at her sides.

Patricia eyed her a moment before smiling. "Yer welcome, Staff Sergeant." She said, picking up her bag. "And the name's Patricia. Not ma'am." Turning, she opened the door to the bathroom and stepped out.

Shocked, Jada watched the woman go. Once she was gone, she smirked and shook her head. Following the path of Patricia, Jada walked out of the bathroom with a slight limp. Hopping down the stairs, she glanced towards the back of the house and saw Patricia make her way back towards the kitchen. She nodded once to the woman with a grin and, after the older woman nodded back, Jada hobbled towards the front door. With a breath, she opened the screen door and walked out, trying to disguise her limp as much as possible. She let the door slam softly behind her as she descended the stairs from the porch to the grass. Before walking over to the group under the trees, she took a look around; the farm seemed safe enough, at least for the moment, but to get to comfortable here didn't feel like a good idea to her. They were out in the open for the most part and any military personnel knew not to ever be caught in the open without some form of cover and/or protection.

The weird thing she noticed was that there was no evidence of walkers anywhere. She didn't know if that was a good thing or something to be very, very frightened of.

With a sigh to clear her head, Jada slowly walked towards the group, where Rick and some of the others were gathered around a picnic table. On one sat Dale, Andrea, and Carol. On the other side sat Shane and Glenn. Jada slid onto the bench next to Glenn and nodded at Rick, who was standing at the far end of the table. He nodded back.

"Okay. We need ta set up watch teams." Rick started. "Always two people. One on tha RV at all times." He pointed absently behind him where the mobile home was parked just outside the little copse of trees. "I'd like fer Glenn 'n Dale ta stick together." He nodded towards the two men, who both nodded in acknowledgment before glancing at each other. "Shane, Andrea, you two'll be another team." He looked at the two, who looked at each other with a look only the two of them could understand the meaning of.

Jada rolled her eyes.

"And JJ. I'd like fer ya and Daryl ta team up." Rick continued, looking right at Jada, who nodded once, looking down at the table with a small frown. A thought then occurred to Rick, since he frowned as well. "Where is 'e, anyway?" He asked as he glanced around the area.

_Don't say anything unless no one else does._ Jada thought._ Don't let them think there's something going on between us because he can actually carry on a conversation with me._ Jada rolled her eyes at herself. _God, what am I? Twelve?_

"Saw him walk off into the trees earlier." Dale spoke.

_Thank you, Dale._ Jada mentally sighed. She didn't want to have been the last person to have seen him. She was sure a few of them (Rick definitely) had noticed that the resident redneck tolerated her company more than the others...and she didn't want that to cause any sort of riff or strife or bullshit between the group. She didn't want to be the center of attention at any point again, either. If any shit went down, she knew she would leave. She didn't want to have to bolt yet.

Even if her worries were unfounded, even in the slightest way, she didn't want to risk it.

"Righ'." Rick said, hands on his hips. "Someone let 'im know what the plan is when 'e comes back." He then looked over to Carol. "Carol, I'd like fer ya to float, be our eyes an' ears between here and tha house. Anythin' suspicious, ya come ta me or Shane." Carol nodded with a small smile. "When T-Dog's feelin' better, we'll get him in a rotation, too." More nodding from those gathered. "A'ight. Shane, Andrea, why don't ya start. We'll switch up again 'fore it gets dark." The small group nodded as they stood to disband. "I'm headin' back ta the house ta keep an eye on Carl."

"I'll walk back with you." Carol said. "Sophia's sitting with him and Lori." She rounded the table and walked back towards the house with Rick, chatting as they walked.

Jada stood and watched as Shane and Andrea walked off towards the RV, close together and also talking about something. She turned her head to watch as Glenn grinned at her then walked off to gather firewood. As she turned her head back to Dale, she noticed that he was watching her.

"Are you alright?" He asked, his head tilted to the side slightly.

_Am I ever NOT gonna hear that question?_ She thought exasperatedly.

Throwing a fake smile across her face, she nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just twisted my ankle earlier." She lied.

"Uh huh." Dale said, not believing it for one moment, but being considerate enough not to question further.

Jada pressed her lips together as she watched Dale watch her. After a minute of staring, she cleared her throat.

"Could ya do me a favor and get my bags outta the RV while I bring my truck over?" She smiled again, faking it a bit better this time.

Dale eyed her for another moment, then nodded. "Sure. No problem." He said, then turned towards the RV.

"Thanks." She mumbled before about-facing and heading back towards the house where she parked the truck. Having a feeling that Dale was still keeping his eyes on her as she walked away, she did her absolute best to keep from limping...if that involved clenching her teeth and squeezing her hands into fists so hard her nails left crescent moon indents in her palms, she'd do it and hope that pain took her mind off of the one in her leg.

As she reached the truck, she saw T-Dog come out of the house, about to sit down on the top step.

"Hey." She called softly as she dug for the keys in her pocket, then popped open the driver's side door. "Thought you were resting."

"Got bored." He replied, deciding to come all the way down the steps and over to the Staff Sergeant. "Feelin' better now, too."

Jada nodded, then smirked. "Did they stop refilling your glass of tea, making you get your ass off the couch?" She asked.

T-Dog laughed, actually threw his head back to let out a deep belly laugh. "Close enough." He eventually said, making Jada smile.

"Want a ride over to camp?" She asked, flicking her head over her shoulder to where the rest of the group was gathered with their belongings.

"What? In this?" He asked, pointing to the truck.

Jada nodded again. "My new set-ah wheels." She grinned, patting the windshield. "Found food and drinks in the bed, too."

T-Dog let out a low whistle. "Hit tha jackpot dinnit ya?" He walked to the passenger's side and opened the door. Jada climbed in behind the wheel. "Ya got this back on the highway?"

"Yup. Spotted it from the top-ah the RV. Keys in the ignition, free and edible canned food, half a tank-ah gas...if only I could get this lucky all the time." Jada explained, turning over the engine, making the truck purr. "Come on. Get in."

T-Dog hopped up into the truck and shut the door. Jada shut her own door, then put the vehicle in gear, making a wide circle in front of the house before pointing in the correct direction and driving slowly towards the 'campsite'.

"Da hell's that?" T-Dog asked as they pulled up to the side of the RV, next to the Hyundai, which he was pointing at.

"Oh. Hideous, ain't it?" Jada said, reversing the truck in next to the Tuscan, then throwing it into park. "Andrea decided she needed a car after I found this beauty...she got the shit end of the stick if ya ask me."

"I'll say." He agreed as he opened his door and got out of the cab.

Jada shut off the truck, then reached across the front and unlocked the glove box to retrieve her SIG. She opened her own door and got out (tucking the weapon into the back of her pants again), then shut the door behind her, and shoved the keys back into her pocket. She walked over to T-Dog's side and the two approached the group together. Dale spotted them first as he came out of the RV with Jada's bags. He set them on the ground as they neared the older man.

"Hey, I found a stray around the porch. Think we can keep 'im around?" Jada joked, pointing to T-Dog with her thumb next to her shoulder.

Dale chuckled (as Jada smirked) and came over to check on the other man for himself. "Yeah, I guess we can keep him." Dale replied, also joking.

"Thanks, all." T-Dog rolled his eyes.

"Welcome." Jada said with an obnoxiously large smile and a pat to the center of his back.

T-Dog gave her an exasperated look as he was lead over to the picnic table to sit with Dale and few of the others.

Jada shook her head before she turned to where Dale had set down her bags. She walked over to her stuff and picked it up. Briefly wondering if she should toss them into the back of the truck, she ditched that idea when she looked around and saw that most of the others had pitched their tents around the copse. Deciding it was probably better to set up her tent before it got too late into the evening, Jada picked a spot on the far side of the boscage (away from the 'driveway') and made her way towards it. The spot was close to the front of the RV and between two slightly large trees. Setting her bags on the ground, claiming her spot, she bent over (not wanting to jar her right leg too much) and unzipped her tent bag.

Within a matter of minutes, Jada had her tent pitched and threw her other two bags inside. The front of her tent faced the group, so if she tacked the flaps open, she could sit at the entrance and keep a look out. The back of the tent gave her an unobstructed view of the far tree line, where she could also keep an eye on anything trying to sneak up on the group from behind.

Bending at the waist, Jada ducked into her tent and moved her things around. She adjusted the sleeping bag that got moved and incredibly smooshed in transit, then methodically lined up her other two bags orderly on the opposite of the tent. Nodding at her organization, she decided to take a look around the farm, get a feel for the lay out…and look for escape routes if necessary.

Exiting her tent, she picked a direction and walked off, double checking that her SIG was tucked into the back of her pants securely. Just because she had the weapon on her, didn't mean she was going to use it. It just made her feel more comfortable to have it handy. Nobody had to know she was packing, anyway; her shirts covered her well enough that it wouldn't be noticeable.

As she started her slow walk out behind her tent and around the grove of trees, heading towards the left of the farmhouse, she noticed movement off towards the far left tree line. Pausing, she reached behind her back, ready to take out her SIG if needed. Jada quickly relaxed where she saw the unmistakable form of a crossbow in the arms of the group's resident hunter. She grinned as she saw he carried a few squirrels and softened her stance by shifting her weight to her left leg and popping out her right knee while crossing her arms under her breasts. She grinned when he noticed her and changed direction slightly to walk towards her.

"All those woods and you only come back with a few squirrels?" She teased with a grin when he was close enough.

Daryl glared at her almost imperceptibly. "If there was a damn-descent trail, ah wouldna scared tha bigger things." He grumbled.

"Uh huh." Jada was still grinning.

"Shut up." He said half-heartedly as he moved to walk around her and head back to the make-shift camp.

Jada almost let him go too far before she remembered something. Turning, she reached out and grabbed his left bicep gently, not even thinking about it...or the muscles flexing under her palm and fingers.

"Oh, hey." She said, then noticed his gaze was on her hand, still on his arm. She quickly removed her hand. "Sorry." He looked up to her face again, but Jada looked more towards his throat (where his skin was exposed at the top button of his shirt) as she prepared to ask him: "You still have some-ah that alcohol?"

Jada could feel him looking at her closely before he responded with a hum in the positive.

"Mind sharing a little more?" She winced as her eyes never left his throat. "My knee's killing me." She felt the need to explain.

"Ah told ya ta get it looked at." He said, adjusting the crossbow on his right shoulder.

"I did." She said instantly, flicking her eyes up to his. "Got stitches. But it's not like there's a lot of numbing agents around here."

Daryl kept looking at her for several more moments before nodding once. "Fine." He finally gave in. "Gotta take care-ah some stuff first." He held up the squirrels.

"Fine." Jada agreed with a one-shoulder shrug. "Been about an hour anyway. I can go longer."

_Holy shit, woman! Stop with the innuendos around this man!_ She thought, a faint blush surfacing on her cheeks.

Daryl rose an eyebrow...obviously, he understood the double entendre as well.

"Uh, yeah." Jada muttered, taking a small step backwards. "You do what ya need to...I'll be..." She pointed vaguely over her shoulder before about-facing and walking off, her cheeks heating up more as she brought her hand up to drag it down her face in embarrassment.

If she would have looked back at all, she would have noticed the small smirk on Daryl's lips...and that his eyes had landed on her backside. He watched her walk away for a few seconds before shaking his head and heading towards the new campsite.

Jada felt her cheeks slowly return to their normal, light pink coloring the further away she got from Daryl. Chastising herself for not thinking before she spoke, she walked around the side of the farmhouse towards the backyard and noticed a medium-sized stable across the way...so she made her way towards it. As she closed in on the stable, Jada could hear chickens and the whinnying of a horse or two. Why they were kept out here and not in the barn down the drive had Jada puzzled, but she pushed the thought away with a shrug. It was their farm, they could keep their animals wherever they wanted to.

Walking around to the back, Jada saw a fairly large chicken coop on the opposite end with a bunch of chickens running in and out of the hutch. Grinning, she looked to her right where three pens were set up for horses. Stepping closer to the first one, a beautiful brown horse stuck its head over the wall, just as curious as she was. The name _Charlie _was painted on a plaque hanging from the gate.

_Heh...Charlie horse._ Jada thought with a childish laugh.

"Hello." Jada said softly to the animal as she slowly approached it. "Yer a beauty, aren't ya?"

Holding out her hand palm up to the beast, she let him sniff her, then seeing that Jada had no snacks or treats, Charlie shook his head, and retreated back into his pen. Jada laughed in sotto voce.

"Sorry, my equine friend." She said as she moved on to the next pen.

Glancing in, she saw that nothing was currently occupying the space, so she moved on to the last one. That one contained an obviously tentative horse. It was the same brown as the other horse and was about the same size, but their personalities were completely different. Jada strode up to the gate and crossed her forearms on top of the low barricade. She watched the horse as it watched her.

The name on the plaque was _Nelly_.

Several minutes went by of the two of them just staring at each other, however the horse seemed to become more comfortable with Jada the longer she stood there. Eventually, she started to walk towards her, so Jada let her right hand slowly extend towards the creature. Not moving, she let the horse sniff her hand and arm, either looking for a treat or deciding if she was friend or foe. Jada smiled as Nelly kept coming closer, sniffing higher up her arm, and towards her face. Knowing that any sudden movement could be dangerous for her, Jada stood very still, not moving a muscle, and keeping her eyes focused on Nelly's mouth. When her nose was sniffing Jada's nose, she couldn't help but laugh silently, her shoulders faintly shaking. The horse sniffed higher towards the top of her head; Nelly let out a huff of air through her nose and ruffled the hair across Jada's forehead gently.

"See?" She asked the horse under her breath. "I'm not gonna hurt you. We can be friends now, too."

Suddenly, a twig snapped underfoot and several things happened at once; Nelly whipped her head around and whinnied loudly, turning towards the back of the pen again. Jada flung her arm back towards herself while squaring off towards the noise and simultaneously bringing her arm around her back, ready to reach for her SIG. She had her hand under her shirt by the time a shadow fell on the ground...

Then Daryl walked around the corner. He paused realizing Jada was in attack mode; he'd seen that look before when they first met and he took a look around the Hummer. He held up his free hand (the other holding a bottle of alcohol), palm towards her. For once, he wasn't carrying his ever-present Horton Scout HD 125 crossbow.

"Jesus Christ." Jada mumbled, letting her arm drop down to her side. "Stop sneaking." She said, shaking her head.

"Don't be so damn jumpy." He quipped instantly.

"You scared the horse." She pointed back into the pen where Nelly was pacing restlessly, tossing her head around, and whinnying softly, occasionally. "Coulda snapped my arm off, too."

Daryl glanced towards the skittish horse as he came closer to Jada. "Why'd ya have yer arm in ther' ta begin with?"

Jada scrunched her face and looked back at Nelly as well. "I was making friends." She said, looking at the hunter out of the corner of her eye...she saw him make a slight 'yeah, right' face. "Better the horse than the chickens." She defended turning her head back to him. "Thems food."

"So're horses."

_Damn, he's quick with his comebacks._ She thought, sucking her bottom lip in between her teeth to worry on it...which brought Daryl's eyes right to her mouth. With a mental smile that was extremely feminine, Jada released her lip as she spoke.

"True, but chicken tastes better."

Daryl nodded, then turned towards an old, rusting tractor sitting across from Nelly's pen. He hopped up onto the seat and held out the liquor bottle to Jada.

Walking towards him, Jada reached out for the bottle and took it gently out of his hand, glancing at the label. She grinned.

"Do ya have a thing for SoCo or something?" She asked, awkwardly climbing up onto the large, wide, rear tire.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Daryl shrug as she winced from jolting her leg around. Jada growled lowly as she rubbed around her knee.

"Goddamn." She muttered as she straightened and twisted the cap off the new bottle. Taking a large swig, she winced as it burned its way down her throat to her stomach, where the warm feeling settled. She held the bottle out to Daryl and raised an eyebrow, silently asking him if he wanted any. He took the SoCo and took a considerably smaller gulp than Jada, then passed it back.

Ten minutes or so passed in silence with the two of them sitting on the old tractor. Jada had only taken about four shots-worth from the SoCo bottle before recapping it. She stared down as she rolled the bottle between her hands absently, reading the label occasionally. She liked the comfortable silence between her and the hunter. Unlike some people, he didn't have a need to fill silence with useless chatter.

Jada's slightly fuzzy mind wandered to what else Daryl could do silently, when said man leaned towards her to put his hand silently, gently, on her wrist. Her head shot up to look at him, but he was looking towards the horses. Jada swung her head languidly to see both horses had their heads hanging over the tops of their gates, watching them curiously.

"Well, hello again." Jada grinned as she spoke softly to the animals.

She felt Daryl slowly let his hand slide off of her wrist. A tiny shiver raced down her spine.

Cautiously, Jada slid down from the tire. She set the liquor down where she had just been sitting, then ever so slowly and quietly walked towards the horses. Nelly was closest, so she approached her first, holding her hand out in front of her. When close enough, the horse stretched her neck out to sniff her hand before turning her head and heading back into the pen once more. Jada huffed and lowered her hand.

"So much fer bein' a horse whisperer." She heard Daryl say from behind her.

She turned back towards him with a raised eyebrow and tried not to smirk. "Was that another joke?" She asked, biting her lip to keep from laughing.

"Fuck off." He grumbled, jumping down from the tractor.

Jada did let out a little laugh at that as she turned and advanced on Charlie, who was eager to see if she had any snacks this time.

"Nope, sorry, buddy. Still no treats." She said, holding her hand out to the beast.

He sniffed her hand, then blew a huff of air out of his nose before turning his head to her left. Jada turned her head to see Daryl walking towards her, bottle of SoCo in hand; He took a long look in at Nelly before glancing at Charlie. She reached her hand up to rub Charlie's neck as he watched the hunter move closer.

"Horse whisperer." He muttered, shifting his gaze from the horse to the Staff Sergeant.

Jada rolled her eyes, then turned to head back towards the camp after a final pat to Charlie. Her knee was feeling better...whether that was from the alcohol or just because she rested it for a while, she didn't know or really care. As long as it didn't ache.

As she rounded the side of the stable, she spun on her left heel to see if Daryl was following her. She wanted to ask him if he knew of their watch partnership.

The hunter was a few feet behind her, so she waited for him to step next to her. "Oh, has anyone talked to you about watch duties?" She asked as they fell into step with each other.

"Yeah. Dale mentioned it as ah was cleanin' squirrels." He said, looking straight ahead.

"He happen ta mention when we're on?" She asked, also looking straight ahead.

"Tonight."

"Oh, that was so helpful, thank you." She said sarcastically.

"Ah didn't ask fer details." He defended hotly.

She held up her hands in a placating manner. "Alright. Just wondering." She said, backing off. "Sheesh."

"Ah ain't yer errand boy."

"No. You're my supplier."

Jada didn't ever remember seeing his head whip around so fast before. She pointed down to the Southern Comfort in his hand.

"Where else am I gonna get a steady supply of booze?" She asked with a small smirk.

Daryl frowned and grumbled something unintelligible before picking up his pace so he could walk ahead of Jada and make it back to camp faster.

Jada shook her head as her eyes lowered to the man's ass. She slowed her steps unconsciously as she watched him, but quickly shook herself out of it as realized she was close to camp...now that T-Dog was back, she would be in for some heckling if he ever saw where her eyes were.

With a large sigh, Jada walked into the camp from a different spot than Daryl and headed over to Dale, who was sitting at the picnic table with a book of crossword puzzles in front of him. She lowered herself on the bench across from him and glanced at the puzzle.

"You good with crosswords?" He asked, tapping his pencil against the table.

"Not really." She replied with a short shrug. She glanced to her right, where the RV sat, Andrea and Shane sitting fairly close to one another on the roof. She repressed a shiver, then looked back at Dale. "Oh, has anyone come up with a watch schedule yet?" She asked.

Dale nodded and wrote in an answer on the puzzle. "You and Daryl're up after them. After supper." He pointed towards the RV without even looking up. "Glenn an' I'll relieve ya 'round dawn."

Jada took a deep breath, then nodded. "Right. Thanks." She put her hands on the top of the table and pushed up, swinging her legs out from underneath as she stood. "Good luck with your puzzle." She grinned, then turned and headed towards her tent to rest up before dinner and her watch shift.

Apparently, Jada had fallen asleep while resting, since she was awoken to Carol tapping on her boot. She almost ended up kicking the older woman in the head, thinking a walker was about to gnaw off her foot. With a sleepy apology, she got up and out of her tent as she went to help Carol with food prep. At the fire, Jada noticed that the group came into a few fresh ingredients (besides the squirrel meat donated by Daryl). While Jada drowsily got to work on the meat, Carol whipped up a few side dishes, such as steamed corn fresh off of the cob and potatoes.

Setting up camp on a farm had its perks, that was for sure.

When everything was cooked up and dished out, the group - minus Lori, Rick, and Carl since they were still in the house – ate quietly around the fire for warmth. At the conclusion of the meal, there was some chatter. Then, after a few hours, people headed off to their tents to bed down for the night. Jada helped Carol stack up the dirty dishes, but told her not to worry about them...she'd make Dale and Glenn clean them.

With a grateful smile, Jada headed back to her tent to grab another flannel shirt, doubling them up to keep warm before she went to the RV to relieve Shane and Andrea of their watch. She climbed the ladder at the back of the RV and reached the top only to see that Daryl was there already. Thankful that she didn't have to speak to the previous watch dogs, she walked towards the middle of the roof and sat on a crate, Daryl stood at the back of the roof after she climbed up.

They were silent as the group below them slowly found their sleeping bags and drifted off to sleep.

A few hours into their watch, Jada heard a metallic clanging noise off down the drive. Standing, she closed her eyes and listened closely to see if she could identify the sound and where it was coming from.

"'S a bell." Daryl said from next to her, making her jump and open her eyes in surprise.

"A bell?" She question quietly, looking at him in confusion.

"Mmhmm." He nodded. "Cows down ther'."

Jada's mouth formed a soft O as she tuned into the sound again. Now that she knew what it was, she could definitely pinpoint the noise. She felt Daryl leave her side and turned her head to watch him saunter back towards his spot at the back of the RV. Jada returned to the crate and retook her seat.

Another hour or so passed when the wind kicked up bringing the cooler summer night air with it. Jada shivered and pulled her shirts closer around her body, curling up into as much of a ball as she could to preserve her body heat.

_Nope. Not working._ She thought, shivering again. _What I wouldn't give for a blanket right now._ She readjusted her shirts more securely, but he teeth started chattering. _Oh, fuck, like I need this right now._ She heard Daryl walk towards her and she mentally grumbled. _Now he's gonna bitch at me, isn't he?_

"Stand up." He said...demanded.

Jada just looked up at him. "What?"

_That was intelligent._

"Stand up." He repeated, a little more bite in his voice.

Jada stood, not wanting to piss the guy off and have to spend the rest of the night being careful not to poke a sleeping bear.

Daryl picked up the create and set it closer to the back of the RV, then sat himself on the roof, legs propped up and elbows resting on his knees as he set his crossbow on the crate in front of him.

"Sit." He pointed to the roof on his left side. "Face that way." He pointed behind him, towards the front of the RV and the driveway.

"We gonna play the hokey pokey now?" Jada groused as she sat as instructed.

"If'n ya think it'll keep ya warm." He quipped back.

_God. Seriously, who is that quick with comebacks?..._She thought, then tensed. _Wait. Keep warm? Is he sharing body heat?_ Jaw slack, she looked up at him, willing her mind to get out of the gutter.

"Ah could hear yer teeth chatterin' all the way over there." He threw his hand out vaguely towards the back of the RV, where he'd been on lookout.

"Sorry." She mumbled, scooting closer to his body. "Thank you."

She felt him grunt in reply.

After a few minutes, Jada could start to feel his body heat work its way closer to her. To feel it sooner, she shifted closer to his shoulder.

"My god, yer warm." She whispered, leaning her right shoulder into his left. She felt him tense momentarily before relaxing slightly. Grinning to herself, she shifted a little closer, bringing the left side of her body up against his. "Why are men always so much warmer than women?" she asked rhetorically.

"Muscles." Daryl replied anyway, instantly.

Jada turned her head to look at him in shock. He turned his head to look at her.

"What?"

"I...uh...wasn't expecting you to answer." She replied. "Let alone be right."

"Then why'd ya ask?"

"It was rhetorical."

Daryl made a face, then turned his head away, back towards the back of the mobile home.

"Oh, don't sulk." Jada teased. She brought her arms up to wrap them around his to absorb more of his heat...at least that's what she told herself. She felt him tense up again. "Relax, I'm just stealing more of your heat." She said.

With a grumble, Daryl let at least his arm relax, while Jada readjusted her light grip on him and moved even closer. The hunter didn't seem to mind…much. Jada wondered how much she could get away with before she made him extremely uncomfortable, but decided not to push her luck. She was still cold.

The two sat that way for the rest of the night, with only the occasional shiver from Jada. Towards dawn, she released Daryl's arm and put a little bit of space between them. Not that she wanted to, but because Dale and Glenn would be waking up soon to relieve them. She didn't want more teasing from anyone...T-Dog was enough.

_I gotta remember to bring a blanket up here tomorrow night._ Jada thought as she saw Glenn step out of his tent and stretch. _Or I can forgo that and snuggle next to the big, bad, redneck hunter again._ She grinned.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** _See? Kind of an awkward chapter. I had the whole Patricia and Jada stitch-up formed in my head completely, but to get to that was a bitch, then after that I wanted to get the rest of the day in there...because the next chapter is going to be a lot of Daryl and Jada interaction. ;-)_

_I probably made Daryl a little OOC towards the end here, too...but season 2 is where he started to become more social. I'm just speeding up the process a little bit._

_Thanks to all who have read, reviewed, favored, and alerted!_


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N: **_OMFG! I am soo sooo soooo sorry! I really don't mean to take this long between updates...though this time, I was working on converting one of my closets into a mini-library with a BBC Sherlock style to it (I painted one wall to look like the wallpaper in his flat). Other than that, I have no excuse other than I'm a lazy, procrastinating, unemployed asshole with nothing better to do than waste my time dicking around on the internet._

_So if you see that I haven't updated in more than a month, TELL ME! Nicely, I might add. I won't bite your head off if you send me a message saying something like 'hey, update Won't Back Down'. I NEED that kick in the pants sometimes._

_Anyway, here ya go. Enjoy!_

* * *

><p><em>"...I'm an uncooked slab of beef, layin' on your kitchen floor..."<em>

Once Glenn and Dale made their way up the RV, Jada and Daryl climbed down and went their separate ways for the day. Jada yawned as she headed towards her tent to sleep for a few hours and, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Daryl head towards the fire pit for some of whatever was left for breakfast. When Jada reached her tent, she stepped in and started to zip it closed behind her.

"JJ!" She paused, hearing someone call her from the area of the fire pit.

Sticking her head out, she saw that Carol was holding a plate of food towards her. "Come eat something hot before you sleep." She said.

With a silent groan, Jada nodded her head. _I just wanna sleep._ She thought with a mental whine, slowly making her way over to the fire. She took the plate and fork Carol offered her with a single nod, then sat in an empty folding chair near the pit, kicking her feet up onto a nearby crate. Glancing up from the plate after picking up the fork, she subtly watched as Daryl shoved forkful after forkful of egg into his mouth like it was going out of style. After a small smirk and slight shake of her head, Jada started eating her eggs at half the speed of the man across from her.

A few minutes later, Jada watched Daryl out of the corner of her eye as he stood up and set his empty plate and fork on top of the pile with the rest of the dirty dishes. He wandered off somewhere out of Jada's eyesight and she returned her attention to her breakfast. After a few bites, Jada felt her eyes start to itch from lack of sleep. Setting her plate on her lap, she reached up and rubbed her eyes, fighting off sleep for just a little longer. She began stuffing her own face with the eggy breakfast faster so she could schlep back to her tent and pass out for a while. Once finished, Jada stood from the chair and turned to her left.

And tripped over Sophia, who had her own breakfast. The girl had planted herself on a log next to the Staff Sergeant.

Jada managed to hold onto her plate and fork as she regained her balance and not tumble onto the youngster.

"Ahh. Jeez. Sorry, kid." Jada started to apologize. "Didn't see ya there. Didn't even hear ya."

"Sorry." Sophia mumbled as she ducked her head to her chest.

"No, no, it's okay. My fault." Jada smiled. "I'm just super sleepy right now and not paying attention."

Sophia nodded and went back to eating her breakfast silently.

Jada went over to the stack of dirty dishes to add hers on top, then went over to Carol—who had taken the chair next to her daughter—and thanked her for the eggs. After turning to head to her tent, she nodded to T-Dog as he came out of his own tent for the day.

When she finally reached the confines of her tent, Jada zipped up the flaps and secured the bottom, then sat on her sleeping bag and untied her boots. As she was kicking them off, she took her SIG out of the back of her pants and set it next to her pillow within easy reach. Once the boots were off, she set them next to the tent flaps, then crawled into her sleeping bag, burrowing in so darkness surrounded her. With a deep sigh, she finally let her eyes close and she drifted off to sleep not long after.

When Jada awoke, it was to the sounds of younguns yelling and laughing. Stretching, she sat up and took a look out of the back mesh window of her tent to see Sophia, Glenn, and the woman with the short, dark hair that was in the kitchen the previous day all running around and throwing water-soaked sponges at one another. With a grin, Jada stretched her arms over her head, then bent over to touch her toes before dropping into position to start a few reps of push-ups.

_I've been slacking._ She thought with an exhale as she pushed up. _I need to get back into practice._

After finishing her push-ups, Jada changed into a clean set of clothes, then took a small bottle of mouthwash out of her rucksack and swished it around her mouth before spitting it out of the back window (getting her mouth right up against the mesh, so none of the liquid got inside the tent). When she felt she was descent enough, she tied on her boots and unzipped her tent before grabbing her SIG and shoving it into her pants again.

Exiting her tent, the Staff Sergeant glanced around. T-Dog and Andrea were at the picnic table, Lori and Carol were doing some laundry again, and Dale was lounging on the roof of the RV in the afternoon sun. Taking a chance with one of the people against her staying with the group, Jada made her way over to the picnic table and sat across from Andrea.

"Hey." T-Dog said, looking up from what appeared to be Dale's book of crossword puzzles.

"Hey." Jada said quietly with a small grin. "How long was I out?" She asked.

"A few hours." He replied, looking back down at the puzzle. "Maybe, like, four? Five?"

Jada nodded, then looked around herself again. Anything to avoid making conversation with Andrea. She caught sight of the kids out in the field and smiled when Sophia ran up behind Glenn and squished an overly-wet sponge against his back. He jumped about two feet in the air before turning and grinning as he chased her with a sponge.

"Glad to see the kids having some fun." Jada said, turning her head back to the two at the table.

Andrea nodded. "They were bored and it was getting hot. I suggested they play in the water. Maggie ending up bringing out sponges and it turned into a water war." She grinned, turning her gaze to the three as well.

_Maybe Andrea isn't so bad._ Jada thought as she turned her attention to the other woman and nodded once in recognition.

The three were silent for a while until T-Dog got stuck on a clue. After some playful debate, they got the correct answer and completed the rest of the puzzle together. They were about to start another when Carol and Lori came over to the table.

"Mind if we steal JJ for a while?" Lori asked as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Sure." Jada said, then got off of the bench and followed Carol and Lori as they started walking away.

"So I had the idea that we should cook dinner for Hershel and his family as a thank you since they've been kind enough to help us." Carol started. "What'd ya think?"

"It's a great idea." Jada replied. "Would ya like my help?"

"We need to okay it with Hershel first, but yes, we'd like ya ta help." Lori said.

Jada realized they were walking to the farm house. _So cocksure that I'd help_. She thought with a grin. _I like that._

Immediately after entering the house, they found Patricia and the youngest, blonde girl in the kitchen. They approached with Lori leading the way.

"Patricia," she started as she walked into the kitchen, "we'd like to offer to cook dinner tonight. You and yer family have been so welcoming and kind, it's the least we can do to repay you."

"Very diplomatic." Jada mumbled. Carol heard and turned her head to grin at the Staff Sergeant.

"Make dinner?" Patricia glanced over to the young girl. "Ah don't see why not. Give Beth and me a break fer once. And have somethin' cooked by an actual chef?" she shifted her gaze to Jada and smiled. "Absolutely."

The three guest women smiled, then entered the kitchen fully. The five gathered around the butcher block top island in the center of the room.

"What should we make?" Carol asked.

Four heads turned to Jada, who was staring down at the table top. She glanced up when it became silent.

"Oh." She mumbled, seeing they were looking to her for advice. "Uh, sorry. I was admiring the woodwork." She ran her fingers lightly over the table top. "Mind if we look around? See what we got ta work with?"

"Sure." Patricia nodded, walking around the island. "I need ta go feed the chickens. Beth here can help y'all out."

The three women nodded as Patricia left the room. Jada took a breath and started for the refrigerator. Lori and Carol walked around the kitchen, occasionally looking in the cabinets.

"How 'bout we divvy up dishes. It'll make the cook times faster." Carol suggested.

Jada nodded as she opened the fridge door to take a quick look.

"How 'bout JJ takes the main dish, you can do dessert, and Beth 'n' I can work on sides?" Lori suggested, grinning at the younger girl to help make her feel included.

Jada nodded, giddy now that she had something familiar to work on. Looking around the fridge, she took a mental inventory, then shut the door to keep the cold in and not risk knocking out the generator. She walked back to the island and sat on the vacant stool next to Beth.

"Is there anything you don't want us ta use?" Jada asked the girl as she watched the other two women search the cabinets.

"Nah. Y'all can use what ya want." Beth replied with a heavy Southern drawl.

"Thank you." Jada said with a nod. She turned her head to glance at Carol and Lori. "Either of ya find any honey, brown sugar, and mustard?" She asked.

"Found some honey and brown sugar." Carol said, bringing the items over to the island. "What're ya thinking?"

Jada smiled. "Baked ham with a brown sugar mustard glaze." She closed her eyes and dramatically licked her lips. "Mmm, my mouth is watering already."

"Oh, my god, that sounds amazing." Lori commented. "And here I was thinkin' green beans and mashed potatoes were heavenly."

"Ooh, that does sound amazing." Jada replied. She brought her hand up to wipe at her mouth. "Okay, okay. We need to stop talking about food and start makin' it."

"Actually, I'll just be happy to eat anything besides squirrel for a few days." Lori replied, bringing a bag of potatoes over to the table.

"Squirrel's not that bad." Jada said, unintentionally defending Daryl's kill of choice.

"You haven't had it as a meal as long as we have, though." Carol said, reaching into a cabinet for a bowl.

"Hmm." Jada hummed. "Good point." She stood from the stool and walked over to the drawers next to the oven, looking for a pan deep and wide enough for the shankless, skinless smoke-cured ham she saw in the fridge. "What's for dessert, Carol?" She asked, keeping the conversation going.

"I was thinking chocolate cake with chocolate frosting." She smiled.

"Mmm. Chocolate." Beth, Lori, and Jada mumbled at the same time.

They all grinned with small giggles as they moved efficiently around the kitchen to get the dinner together. Since Jada's ham would take two and a half hours in the oven, she let Carol make her cake first. The Staff Sergeant enlisted Beth's help to locate some mustard and cider vinegar in the mean time. They were only able to find balsamic vinegar, but Jada wasn't worried; it wouldn't overly affect the flavor. While Jada was adding her ingredients into a bowl and mixing it together, Patricia came back into the kitchen with a basket of eggs and put them in the refrigerator before taking a seat on the stool at the island.

Once Jada had mixed her glaze as well as she could, while not over mixing, she set the bowl on the counter in an out of the way place to rest and let the flavors mingle. She then leaned her back against the counter and put her hands on her hips, glancing around the kitchen. The solid weight of her SIG was digging into her tailbone, reminding her that while it was bliss to be in a kitchen again, there would probably come a day when they'd have to leave this paradise for one reason or another...the main reason could be a walker invasion.

Seeing that she had nothing to do at the moment and would only be in the way, she decided to head back outside. She pushed herself away from the counter and let her arms fall to her side.

"I'm gonna head back outside for a bit." She said, slowly walking around the kitchen. "Lemme know if ya need me or when you're done with the oven, Carol."

After receiving a nod from the older woman, Jada left the kitchen, exiting the house through the dining room. On her way over to the grove of trees where the group was camped, Jada passed Sophia and Maggie on their way to the house, clothes still a bit damp from their earlier water fight. They were giggling over something or other, making Jada grin and shake her head at their antics. _At least they had some fun._ She thought.

Back at the campsite, Jada saw that Andrea had taken over Dale's position on top of the RV, attempting to look like the badass she wasn't.

_Does she think holding a rifle like...like, uh...Annie Oakley is gonna make her more likable? _Jada mentally scoffed. _Doubtful._

Shaking her head, she wandered over to her tent. Just before she stepped inside, she saw Dale walking back towards the RV to speak with Andrea. Jada ducked into the tent wondering where everyone else had disappeared to. Where did Rick go? T-dog? Shane? Daryl? Well, Daryl was probably hunting...like normal and there was a good chance Rick was sitting with his son. But Shane? Shane seemed to be the odd man out, like he was trying too hard to be seen as a leader.

_As long as I stay away from him and him from me, we'll be fine._ Jada thought with a shrug.

Not knowing what to do while waiting for Carol to finish with the oven, Jada reached deep into her rucksack for her book. She lightly placed a kiss on the front cover, thinking of her deceased parents as she did. Stepping back, Jada sat and reclined on her sleeping bag and opened up the book to her marked page to begin reading.

It had to have been a few hours later when Jada felt the need to move...and check on what was going on in the kitchen.

The Staff Sergeant crawled across the floor of the tent and reached for her rucksack. As she crawled, she saw that the sun had gotten significantly lower in the sky. _How long was I reading?_ She thought.

Shaking her head, she put her book safely back in the pack before she went to unzip one of the lower pockets. Jada was about to reach in for her dwindling stash of Jolly Ranchers (she had them to help battle dry mouth and stay hydrated) when she heard a shout from outside.

Jumping up, she stepped out and looked over to the RV where Andrea was looking through binoculars towards the setting sun and far off tree line.

"What is it?" Shane asked, coming out of nowhere.

Rick, T-Dog, and Glenn popped up and gathered around Dale and the RV as well.

"Walker." Andrea replied, dropping the binoculars to the roof to glance at the assembled group before lifting the rifle and looking down the scope.

"Is it just the one?" Rick asked, starting towards it.

"I can take it out from here." Andrea said, adjusting her stance.

"No!" Rick yelled, holding his hand up in some attempt to stop her. "No guns. We keep it quiet."

Rick, Shane, T-Dog, and Glenn grabbed up weapons and started to sprint towards what they presumed to be a walker. Jada hung back with Dale and Andrea.

"Andrea, can you toss down the binoculars?" She called up to the other woman.

Without taking her attention away from the rifle scope, Andrea knelt down and felt around for the binocs, then tossed them down in the general direction of Jada.

The Staff Sergeant leaped forward and snagged them out of the air before they hit the ground and shattered. With a glare up at Andrea, Jada turned and lifted the binoculars. The sun was in the perfect position to obscure her vision, so lowering the binocs, she ran through the high-grassed field about halfway between the camp and where the others were stopping near the walker. She flopped down to her stomach on the grass and lifted the binocs again. With a gasp, she lowered the binoculars and jumped back up to her feet.

"Son of a bitch." She muttered, letting her hands fall to her sides.

Jada was able to make out that the supposed 'walker' was a stumbling, tired, and ridiculously dirty Daryl. And he was still human; she was apt to distinguish a conversation between him and the other men.

She released a sigh and started to make her way towards the group when she heard Andrea cock the rifle from behind her. Turning, her eyes wide, she yelled at Andrea.

"NO!"

But Andrea had already fired the rifle.

"NO! Fuck! You idiotic son of a bitch! It's Daryl!" Jada yelled angrily towards the woman as she heard Rick yell "No!" from where he was as well.

Jada threw the binoculars tempestuously back towards the RV (not caring if they broke this time) before turning and sprinting through the field towards Daryl.

_I take back what I thought about her earlier...she's still a bitch!_ Jada thought as she ran. _She better have fucking missed. I was starting to really like that man._

"Did she hit him?" She asked as she reached the group, watching Rick and Shane help get Daryl vertical, an arm thrown over each of their shoulders.

"Grazed 'im." Shane answered with a grunt.

"Oh, thank god." Jada mumbled, bringing a hand up to cover her heart.

The two cops started to drag a half-conscious Daryl back towards the farm house. Jada lowered her hand and hung back for a moment, letting out a breath as she regained her composure (if asked, she would have admitted that she was worried about the hunter). She watched T-Dog step up to her out of the corner of her eye. He rested his hand on her shoulder, not saying anything. Jada was grateful that he was silent and wasn't going to razz her about her attraction towards the redneck and turned her head to nod at him in thanks.

"What the hell happened? He's wearing ears." They heard Glenn say.

Both looked at the other in confusion before Jada reached down to pick up the hunter's forgotten crossbow. They ran to catch up with the others, who were now dragging a completely unconscious Daryl.

"Let's keep that to ourselves." Jada heard Rick reply as he reached over to rip off Daryl's ear necklace and shove it in his own shirt.

Andrea and Dale ran up to the group; Andrea kept repeating "oh, my god" and "is he okay?" as they approached. She asked if she hit him and Jada wanted to lift the cross bow and shoot her in the shoulder, then ask her the same question.

Jada and T-Dog trailed behind the larger group as they met up with everyone who came running out of the farm house when they heard Andrea's shot. In the cacophony of everyone asking what happened, and a general, anxious hubbub, Jada watched as Daryl was handed over from Shane to Hershel and—with Rick still on Daryl's other side—they got him up to the house and hopefully into one of the spare rooms where he could rest and get medical attention.

Jada was still standing behind most of the remaining group when Carol walked up to her.

"JJ? You a'right?" She asked, putting her hand on Jada's arm.

"Huh?" She asked, turning her attention to the older woman. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine." She forced herself to grin in order to make the mother think that she wasn't mentally going over ever imaginable outcome of what could have happened to the one person she cared about most (in the group) just seconds ago.

"You sure?" Carol leaned closer to her slightly and frowned. "You're lookin' a bit pale."

"Yeah. I'm good." She replied, looking Carol in the eye. "Just not what I thought was gonna go down when I came out here."

"Okay. If you're sure." Carol said, then after receiving a nod from the Staff Sergeant, continued. "I'm done with the oven, so you can have it."

"Oh. Right." Jada answered, completely forgetting about dinner in her worry. "I'll head in now."

Still carrying Daryl's crossbow, Jada marched back to the house. As soon as she walked in the door, it felt almost like an emergency room: she heard Hershel and Patricia giving orders to whoever was helping them, saw people running from the kitchen and bathroom to a room towards the back of the house and back again, and heard more yelling all through the house.

_Jeez. At least he'll be well taken care of_. Jada thought.

She saw Rick coming towards her from where she assumed Daryl was being seen to.

"He conscious?" She asked as he stopped next to her by the front door.

"Barely." The Sheriff's Deputy grumbled as he ran a hand over his face. "Did ya know he took one-ah Hershel's horses?" He asked, looking Jada straight in the eye.

"No, sir." She answered, looking right back, letting him know she was being honest.

Rick grunted faintly before looking away. "He never asked permission."

Jada scoffed softly. "And this surprises you?"

"Not really." Rick replied. "But I was hopin'."

Jada inclined her head, then started to walk to the back room. From behind her, she heard the screen door slam softly, telling her that Rick left. When she reached the room where all the noise and people were, Jada stayed out in the hall, but leaned her head in to take a peek at the scene. Daryl was laid on his side near the edge of the bed while Hershel was at his head with his arms making the motions of sewing up a wound. With a grimace, Jada realized Andrea just missed his brain...and she wasn't sure if she was extremely pissed off at the thought or saddened or something else she couldn't describe. Or maybe all of them.

The Staff Sergeant took another breath, then stepped into the room, keeping as close to the wall as she could so she'd be out of the way. She moved to the corner, which was next to another door, and leaned down to set the hunter's crossbow on the floor, propping it up against the wall. She straightened and slid along the wall to exit the room the way she came. When Jada slunk out into the hall, she made her way towards the kitchen to bake up the ham.

Back in the kitchen (after passing by a dried-off Sophia sitting at the dining room table with a coloring book and crayons), Jada found Beth and Carol huddled around the island, peeling potatoes. With a small nod, Jada moved to open the refrigerator and take out the ham and set it in the pan she found earlier. She walked over to the stove and stared at the knives magnetically attached to the wall before selection a six inch chef's knife and taking it back to the ham. After scoring the top and sides of the ham in diamond patterns, she set the knife next to the sink, then took the panned ham over to the preheated oven and slid the pan in. She looked for a timer.

"Is there a timer 'round here?" She asked, not looking at the other women. "I admit I'm not used to not having a timer on my oven."

"Yeah. Here." She heard Beth say.

Turning around, the younger girl was holding out an egg timer in the shape of a chicken. Biting her lip to keep from laughing, Jada took the timer with a "thanks," then turned the top part all the way around to the sixty minute mark. She knew that when it dinged, she would have to add another thirty minutes to almost fully cook the ham.

The Staff Sergeant set the timer on the table close to herself, then picked up a small four inch paring knife and helped peel and cut up the potatoes with the other two. The three cut in silence, but shortly, Jada was the only one peeling and cutting...Beth and Carol were in awe of the former Army chef's efficiency and speed.

"Ah've never seen someone peel taters that fast." Beth commented softly.

Jada glanced up, thinking she was talking about Carol. She ended up doing a double-take and pausing in her actions as she looked between the two.

"What?" she asked suspiciously, lowering her hands to the tabletop.

"I'm amazed." Carol said simply. "I mean, I knew Soldiers had to have precision and speed, but I never thought a chef would."

"You were in the military?!" Beth loudly asked in excitement before Jada could even think to respond.

"Shh! Keep your voice down." Jada hissed, looking towards all the doors and windows. She didn't want to risk another stand-off if one of Hershel's people was anti or angry at the military yet.

Jada saw a heavier set man pause in the hallway on the other side of the dining room before he ducked his head and continued on up the stairs.

"JJ?"

Jada swiveled her head back to the other two women to see that it looked like they were waiting for her to answer them.

"Right." Jada replied and relaxed her features when she realized she'd been frowning. "Sorry." She continued to peel and cut the potatoes. "And, yeah, I was in the Army. Head chef, actually."

"Wow." Beth whispered, slowly peeling the few potatoes in front of her again.

"I had to feed hundreds of people three squares a day." Jada continued, glancing at Carol with a smirk as she cut a potato into cubes and tossed it in the large pot in the middle of the table. "It was me and a few hand-picked chefs. Seven days a week and about half of the National holidays...I loved it."

Carol smiled back at her (along with Beth) and the three continued on with the rest of the potatoes.

"Oh. Where's Lori? I thought she was doin' green beans." Jada queried after several minutes.

"She's in with Carl." Carol answered, wiping her hands on a towel after she finished with the last of her potatoes.

"Has he woken yet?"

"No"

The Staff Sergeant winced as she worked on the last potato. Once all the potatoes were peeled and cut into cubes, Beth and Jada hefted the large pot to the sink and they filled it with water. When it was full, they placed it on the stove with a few grunts and set it to slowly boil and soften the starchy cubes. Jada plopped down on the stool while Beth helped Carol search for another large pot for the green beans. They couldn't find one in the kitchen, so Beth suggested they check the basement.

While they were gone, Jada sat quietly, looking for something else to do. That got bored fast. She checked how much time was left on the timer, then she got up from the stool and went into the dining room with Sophia. Jada sat in the seat next to the little girl and looked over her shoulder to see what she was coloring. Sophia glanced up at the Staff Sergeant with a smile, then wordlessly handed her a blue crayon. After turning to two blank pages next to each other, Sophia took a pink crayon out of the box, shifted the box so both of them could reach it, and started to color. With a grin, Jada turned herself so she could color on the adjacent page without bumping into the girl's hand and messing up her picture.

About half an hour later, Jada, who was in the kitchen stirring the potatoes around, heard laughing and clanking coming up the basement stairs. Carol and Beth made their way back into the kitchen and cleaned out their newly found pot before filling it with water. They moved that pot to the stove and set that one to a slowly boil as well. The beans wouldn't take nearly as long as the potatoes or ham. After the two went back to the island, Jada added a healthy dose of salt to the water, then joined them.

The three were in the middle of snapping off the ends of the pile of green beans when Patricia walked back in. Carol offered her the stool and she took it thankfully, slumping forward to rest her elbows on the table top. The three paused in their snapping, wondering how Hershel's newest patient was coming along. Beth went over to the sink to get a glass of water for the exhausted-looking woman. With a grateful "thanks," Patricia downed the glass in a few gulps.

Jada had her attention on Patricia, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw Maggie in the dining room, moving the chairs away from the table. She wondered if the younger woman had kicked Sophia out or just moved her to the other end. She then pulled the table apart and left Jada's sight, but came back shortly with a middle leaf to the table. Hershel then walked into the dining room and started to talk to her in hushed voices. Jada returned her full attention to Patricia.

"How's Daryl doin'?" Jada asked softly, picking up another bean so she didn't have to look at anyone…or see if anyone was watching her.

There was a pregnant pause before Patricia answered.

"Fine. He's sewn up and resting." She acknowledged. "Is he always so prickly and standoffish?"

Jada chuckled as Carol laughed out loud.

"Yeah, he takes a bit of gettin' used to." Carol replied. "He say what happened?"

"Says he went huntin'. Took out Nelly. She got spooked and bucked 'im off. We don't call 'er 'Nervous Nelly' fer nothing." Patricia said. "Says he got skewered with one-ah his arrows."

Jada, Carol, and Beth all cringed and winced. "Ouch. And gross." Jada mumbled.

"He tried ta get up the hill, fell, passed out fer a bit, pulled the arrow out, then climbed up again." Patricia went on. "Think he said somethin' about...walkers, but ah had ta git more bandages."

_Goddamn, that man's one tough motherfucker._ Jada thought as she snapped the ends off of more beans. _He's like the human equivalent to a cockroach...he just won't die. Which is a good thing, since I'd like to keep 'im around._ She grinned to herself.

The egg timer sitting near Jada dinged, so she twisted it for another half an hour.

"How much longer this gonna take?" Patricia asked. "Sun's gone down and the natives are gettin' hungry."

"Um, I need another forty-five minutes or so." Jada muttered.

Patricia hummed, then picked up a bean and snapped off the end.

Half an hour later, the egg timer dinged again.

Jada went over to the counter where her brown sugar mustard glaze was sitting and picked it up. She went over to the oven and opened the door to slide the ham out, then, taking a pastry brush she found in a drawer, she brushed her glaze over the ham and on the sides. When it was covered, she dumped whatever remained in the bowl over the top and let it drip down the sides. After she slid the ham back in the oven and shut the door, she went back to the island and reset the timer for another twenty minutes just to be safe.

"Good thing you made your cake earlier." Jada spoke softly to Carol.

The older woman grinned as she picked up a handful of beans and turned to the boiling pot of water to blanch them. She worked on the beans, while Patricia took care of the now fully-cooked potatoes and mashed them. Jada and Beth 'supervised' by standing around the table to watch.

"How 'bout we clean up a bit so there won't be so many dishes later?" Jada asked the younger girl.

With a nod, both of them picked up dirty flatware and silverware and took it all to the sink. Jada filled the sink with warm water and soap, then washed, while Beth dried and put everything back in its original place. When they finished, Beth went to set the table. Jada looked at the timer just as it dinged one last time.

With a grin, the Staff Sergeant went over to the oven and put on oven mitts. She then reached down and took out the ham, taking it over to the counter to cool and rest. It looked perfect. Jada was just about to turn and ask for a platter plate, when Patricia appeared right behind her with said plate. With a smile of thanks, Jada took the platter and moved the ham from the pan to the plate. She waited until Carol and Patricia finished with the green beans and mashed potatoes before slicing into the ham.

While waiting, Jada got an idea. With a smirk she went into the dining room to ask Beth for two plates and to tell her that she won't be at the table.

"Whatchya doing?" She heard Carol ask as she set the two plates on the counter next to the ham.

She walked across the kitchen for a carving knife as she answered: "I'm gonna make up a plate for Daryl...thought I'd keep him company for a bit, too." She grinned. "I gotta harass him 'bout his choice of horse."

Both Patricia and Carol gave her questioning glances.

"Oh, uh...we met the horses yesterday when we took a little look around." She explained, feeling her cheeks turning just a bit pink. She didn't feel the need to elaborate any further on that, either. It was none of their damn business.

Carol raised her eyebrows with a sly smirk, but Patricia almost frowned at her.

"Sorry." She mumbled, then turned towards the ham. "Are those sides ready yet?" She wanted to change the subject. Glancing over her shoulder, she received nods, so she took the two plates over to the island.

Taking a serving spoon handed to her by Carol, she took a generous scoop of potatoes and plopped them on the plate, then another smaller scoop on the other plate. Jada took another spoon from Patricia (with a smile to help lessen the anger towards her) and spooned out the same portions of green beans. She added salt and pepper to both along with a little pad of butter to the green beans. Jada then picked up the plates and took them over to the counter where the ham was waiting. Setting down the plates, she took up the carving knife and slowly, meticulously sliced thin pieces of the meat. She sliced a little more than half of the roast before setting the knife down.

"That should be enough to get started." She said more to herself than anyone in the kitchen.

Finding a fork, she stabbed three of the largest pieces from the middle of the ham and fanned them out on the plate with the larger helpings. She then took three of the smaller pieces and set them on the other plate.

"When yer ready, ya can put the ham on the table." Patricia instructed from behind her.

"Okay. I'm done." Jada answered.

She picked up the platter and carried the plate of meat out to the dining room, setting it on a clear area near the head of the table. Before heading back to the kitchen, she took a look at Beth's table setting; she did well. Every fork, knife, and spoon was in the correct place, the glasses were on the correct side, and napkins were folded on top of each plate, which were on top of placemats. There were a few pitchers filled with different beverages and they were placed evenly on the table. Even the "kids' table" was set perfectly.

Jada was impressed.

With a nod of appreciation, she walked back into the kitchen, passing Beth on the way and giving her a smile. In the kitchen, Jada saw that the two plates she made were on a serving tray, along with silverware and two glasses of what looked like iced tea. She lifted her gaze.

"Homemade peach iced tea." Patricia explained with a small smile.

"Thank you." Jada said sincerely.

Patricia nodded. "If his bandages need ta be changed, come git me." She instructed.

"Yes, ma'am. I will." Jada said, straightening her spine, knowing a command when she heard one.

"I told ya not ta call me 'ma'am'." She replied before turning and stepping out into the dining room, where Hershel's people and a lot of her group were getting ready to eat.

With a smirk after the older woman, Jada lifted the tray, ready to take it through the house to Daryl. With the tray in her hands, she started to walk out of the kitchen.

"Would you like me ta bring ya some cake later?" Carol asked, stopping the Staff Sergeant in her tracks.

"If ya wanna. I can always come back for it." Jada acknowledged.

After Carol nodded, Jada walked down a separate hallway from the dining room that took her right outside of Daryl's door. Shifting the tray to one arm, she knocked gently on the door. When she heard a grumpy "yeah" from the other side, she opened the door and stepped in, closing the door behind her.

"Hey." She said softly, walking over to the dresser adjacent to the bed and setting the tray down on the top.

As she turned to face him, she saw him shift to his side to face away from her and pull the light blanket up to his broad shoulders. Jada crossed her arms underneath her breasts as she stared at the at least half-naked man in front of her. She almost missed the pristinely white bandage around his head.

"Whaddya want?" Daryl asked after several moments of silence.

Jada shook her head to get herself back to why she was there. "Oh. Right. I came to keep ya company...and I brought dinner...if ya want it."  
>"Wha' is it?" He asked skeptically, glancing at her over his shoulder.<p>

Jada grinned. "I made a baked ham with a brown sugar mustard glaze. Lori, Carol, Beth, and Patricia made mashed potatoes and green beans. And Carol made a chocolate cake for dessert, which she said she'd bring later."

Daryl stared at her for a minute before blinking slowly and carefully turning onto his back to rest most of his upper body against the headboard.

"Ya coulda just said ham, potatoes, beans, and cake." He eventually said.

Jada shrugged. "Yeah, well. I was a chef. Can't help but be descriptive." She grinned. "Ya want some or not?"

"Yeah, fine." He grumbled.

Nodding, Jada turned to pick up the plate with the most food on it and handed it over to the hunter. She passed him a knife and fork as well.

"Patricia made some peach iced tea. Want it?" She asked, holding up one of the full glasses.

Daryl nodded and Jada passed him the tea. He put it on the night stand next to him, then set the plate on his lap and started to cut a bite-sized piece of ham.

Jada took her own plate and glass and walked to the other side of the bed where an old, over-stuffed chair sat next to the window. She pulled the chair closer to the bed, then sat down, placing her glass on the floor next to her as she did. She set her plate on her lap and started to cut into it. As Jada placed a piece of meat in her mouth, she closed her eyes and savored the long-lost taste of fully cooked meat in an actual oven.

"Oh, my god." She moaned, chewing slowly. "I can't even remember the last time I had a meal this good."

She slowly opened her eyes to see that Daryl had paused in eating his meal to stare at her with his jaw slack. He quickly cleared his throat as he looked down and speared a few green beans before shoving them into his mouth and nodding in agreement.

Jada smirked as a thrill that was very feminine raced down her body and settled between her legs.

_Ooohhh. Don't know why, but that stare was hot as all get up._ She thought, delving into her pile of mashed potatoes.

The two were silent as they finished off their meals with a speed that felt like the food was going to walk off if they didn't eat it fast enough. When both plates were cleared of all food, Jada stood, taking Daryl's plate and silverware (as well as her own), and placed them back on the serving tray she brought them in on. She turned and retook her seat, picking up her glass of tea to take a sip, savoring the sweet flavor. As she lowered the glass to hold it on her lap, Jada lifted her feet to rest on the edge of the bed. She crossed them at the ankles and slouched down in the chair, resting her head on the top of the back. She reached around to her back to slide her SIG more towards her left side so it wasn't digging into her back. While she was moving around, she watched as Daryl slid back down further under the light blanket, turning on his side to face her.

"How's your head feel?" Jada asked, glancing at the bandage.

"Like ah was in a bad bar fight." He replied.

Jada couldn't help the smirk that passed her lips, so she brought her tea back up to try to hide it.

"If you want me to sock Andrea in the nose, I'd be glad to do it for ya." She said, watching her hand lower the glass again.

"Nah. Let her feel guilty fer a while." He replied, unconsciously rubbing the bandage.

Jada sighed dramatically. "Fiiine." They were silent for several minutes; Jada stared out of the window next to her, while Daryl watched her, attempting to fight off sleeping.

"So I have to ask." Jada started after sitting in silence for too long. "Why'd you take out Nelly? I mean, you saw how jumpy she was. Patricia said they named her 'Nervous Nelly' for a reason."

Daryl shrugged a shoulder.

"That answers everything, then." Jada rolled her eyes. "Okay, then what happened to you?"

"Went huntin'. Horse bucked me an' ah fell down a hill an' waterfall an' stabbed maself with an arrow." He lowered the blanket enough to show Jada the bandage on his side.

Jada barely registered the wound, due to the fact that she could now see most of Daryl's naked torso. She could almost make out a tattoo over his heart, but couldn't read it since he was still covered in dirt and mud...which she knew better than to comment on. When he pulled the blanket back up, covering his body again, he continued.

"Tried ta climb up. Fell back ta tha water." He paused for a moment, looking down at the bed. "Think ah mighta passed out. Took out two walkers 'fore climbin' 'gin. Stumbled back."

"Jesus." Jada muttered, taking a drink of tea. "You're one tough motherfucker, ya know that? How are you not dead?" She smiled to let him know she was joking.

Daryl shrugged again. The tiniest smirk played on the corner of his lips.

Jada shook her head slowly with a grin and opened her mouth to ask him about the ear necklace. She didn't get the chance as someone knocked on the door.

The door opened just enough for Carol to stick her head through.

"Y'all want some chocolate cake?" She asked, bringing two plates of cake into the room.

"Absolutely." Jada answered, sitting up in the chair more.

As Carol was walking over to Jada, Jada saw Daryl shift under the blanket, bringing it up to his shoulders again and covering up most of his torso. _Guess I'm the only one able to see him half-naked—besides the 'medics' here—and I'm perfectly okay with that._ She thought with a smirk. Out loud, she thanked Carol for the dessert (and fork).

Carol smiled at her, then turned to hand Daryl the other plate and fork, which he accepted with a curt nod.

Jada was stabbing her fork into the chocolaty goodness when Carol paused at the door, holding onto the edge of it.

"Lemme know if ya need anything." She said, glancing from Daryl to Jada, giving her a subtle smile.

Jada rolled her eyes just as subtly. "Will do." She grumbled, lifting the fork and shoving the piece of cake into her mouth.

Carol closed the door behind her and left the two alone.

As Jada slowly chewed the piece in her mouth, she closed her eyes again and let the feel of a temporarily forgotten, delicious flavor roll around on her taste buds anew. She unconsciously moaned out her pleasure.

At the same time, so did Daryl.

Jada's eyes flew open and looked at Daryl in shock as he did the same to her. Both of their cheeks flushed red and they looked away from each other, searching the room for something else to look at.

_Thank god no one else was here._ Jada thought with only a slightly relieved sigh.

After several moments, Jada started chuckling to herself. She chanced a glance over to the hunter to see him watching her with a frown.

"I'm sorry." She said through a laugh. "I just thought the time of orgasmic chocolate cake was over forever."

Daryl made an exasperated face (his cheeks still red) before turning his attention back to his dessert.

Jada made a valiant attempt to stem the flow of her laughter as she continued to eat her own cake.

When they eventually finished—without another moan from either of them—Jada collected the plates and forks and placed them on the tray with the rest of the dirty dishes. She returned to the chair and plopped back down, propping her feet back up on the edge of the bed. Through her feet, she could feel Daryl moving about on the bed, readying himself for sleep. He had turned on his side, facing Jada.

"Shouldn't ya git out there?" He asked, rubbing at his eyes.

"Nah. They can go one night without me." Jada replied, settling into the chair more. It wasn't the most comfortable resting position, but it wasn't the worst, either. "Y'all made it this far before I came along." She paused for a moment, gulping down the rest of her iced tea and putting the glass on the floor. "'Sides...the company in here is much better. Quieter." She said with a smirk, leaning her head back into the chair.

"Whatever." Daryl grumbled as he shoved his face into a pillow.

Jada refrained from laughing, knowing it would piss off the hunter more.

Locking her fingers over her stomach, Jada wiggled into the chair to get as comfortable as she could. Now knowing that the man in the bed had no problem with her sleeping in the same room, she was damn well going to make the most of it and sleep safely indoors for one night, at least. Daryl had just put a lot of trust in her letting her stay; she wasn't sure if the prickly pear of a man was coming to like her or if he was only tolerated her better. Whatever the reason, Jada wasn't going to delve too far into it and just roll with it.

With her head back, Jada's eyes were hooded enough that she could watch Daryl without him really knowing. It was only a few minutes later that she was able to hear soft snores coming from the hunter. She grinned, then let herself relax as she slowly drifted off to sleep. Her last thought?

_Wonder what it would be like to share a night's sleep in a bed with Daryl Dixon._

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** _Well, Jada and Daryl's friendship seems to be taking off. :P A relationship will come (pun may or may not be intended), but I like the slow burn instead of "hey we just met; let's fuck"._

_I'm playing around with key points here, too. Glenn and Maggie will head to town and Lori takes her test in the next chapter. There'll be more Daryl and Jada in the next chapter, too. I'm already brainstorming. I'm looking at maybe two or three more chapters on the farm before we head off somewhere else. Yea! Just an FYI.  
><em>

_And like I said at the top, if I don't update for over a month, LET ME KNOW!_

_Thank you to all who have read, reviewed, alerted, and favored!_


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